If you’ve ever paged through your device’s emoji keyboard, you may have noticed an overrepresentation of emoji which are particularly Japanese. Of course, the word emoji itself comes from the Japanese 絵文字. The 絵 (え) means picture and the 文字 (もじ) means character. Due to the initial rise of emoji usage on cell phones in Japan prior to the introduction of the iPhone and subsequent expansion of smartphone usage globally, there were simply a lot of Japan-specific emoji in use that were grandfathered in when emoji became standardized by the Unicode Consortium.
Naturally, there is a fascinating 99% Invisible Podcast episode about the emoji standardization process, which I highly recommend.
I’ve assembled a table of Japan-related emoji below. How many do you know? Are there any missing?
| Kanji | Kana | English | Emoji |
|---|---|---|---|
| 寿司 | すし | Sushi | 🍣 |
| 弁当 | べんと | Bento box lunch | 🍱 |
| お握り | おにぎり | Nigiri rice ball | 🍙 |
| 鍋 | なべ | Hot pot | 🍲 |
| 煎餅 | せんべい | Rice cracker | 🍘 |
| 団子 | だんご | 🍡 | |
| カレーライス | Curry rice | 🍛 | |
| 鳴門巻 | なるとまき | Fish cake | 🍥 |
| 焼き芋 | やきいも | Roasted sweet potato | 🍠 |
| おでん | Oden | 🍢 | |
| かき氷 | かきごり | Shaved ice | 🍧 |
| 河豚 | ふぐ | Blowfish | 🐡 |
| 酒 | さけ | Sake | 🍶 |
| 天狗 | てんぐ | Tengu | 👺 |
| 雛人形 | ひなにんぎょう | Girls day dolls | 🎎 |
| 鬼 | おに | Demon | 👹 |
| 鯉のぼり | こいのぼり | Carp streamer | 🎏 |
| 月見 | つきみ | Moon viewing | 🎑 |
| 富士山 | ふじさん | Mount Fuji | 🗻 |
| 日本の地図 | にほんのちず | Map of Japan | 🗾 |
| 北斎 | ほくさい | Hokusai wave | 🌊 |
| 東京タワー | とうきょうタワー | Tokyo tower | 🗼 |
| 城 | しろ | Japanese castle | 🏯 |
| 鳥居 | とりい | Shinto torii gate | ⛩️ |
| もやい | Moyai statue in Shibuya | 🗿 | |
| 郵便局 | ゆうびんきょく | Japanese post office | 🏣 |
| 桜 | さくら | Cherry blossom | 🌸 |
| 風鈴 | ふうりん | Wind chime/bell | 🎐 |
| 七夕 | たなばた | Tanabata | 🎋 |
| 新幹線 | しんかんせん | Bullet train | 🚅 |
| 門松 | かどまつ | Gate pine | 🎍 |
| 提灯 | ちょうちん | Paper lantern | 🏮 |
| 花札 | はなふだ | Hanafuda playing cards | 🎴 |
| 初心者マーク | しょしんしゃマーク | New driver sticker | 🔰 |
| 温泉 | おんせん | Hot springs | ♨️ |
| 怒 | いか | Anger symbol | 💢 |
| 花丸 | はなまる | Hanamaru, "Well done" stamp | 💮 |
| 幼稚園の名札 | ようちえんのなふだ | Kindergarten name badge | 📛 |