I never knew where emojis came from. I always thought, maybe Facebook made them, or they just appeared one day like everything else online—sudden, everywhere, already part of the language. But then I found out they were born in Japan, in 1999, by a guy named Shigetaka Kurita. The king of the emoji.
That surprised me. He wasn’t trying to be famous. He just wanted people to feel something when they typed.
He made them small—just 12 pixels by 12. A heart ❤️ A sun ☀️ A smile 😊 Not fancy. Not loud. But they carried something words couldn’t. I get that. Sometimes I send a single emoji when I don’t know what else to say. A 🤫 or 🤭 when I’m feeling quiet. A 🫂 or 🤗 when I wish I could hug someone but can’t. Or maybe you pissed me off 🤬
What really got me was learning that no one owns emojis. Not one person. Not one company. They’re managed by this thing called the Unicode Consortium, which sounds like a sci-fi council—but really, it’s just a group that makes sure emojis work across devices. Apple has its style. Android has theirs. But the meaning? That’s ours.
I started thinking about how emojis show up in my life. How I’ve used them to say “I miss you” without saying it. How a single 🔥 can mean “you’re killing it” or “I’m burning up inside.” It’s wild how much feeling fits into something so small.
I guess I didn’t expect to care about this. But now I’m wondering—what emoji hasn’t been made yet? What feeling do I still not have a symbol for?
Maybe I’ll make one. Maybe we all should. Here’s mine,
You feel that too?
-jason
© 2025 Jason C. Owen / www.a-writers-life.com. All Rights Reserved. “Except the emojis, they are owned by all.”
Most content, including written works and original concepts, is the intellectual property of Jason C. Owen. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of any material from this site is strictly prohibited without express written consent. “Except the emojis, they are owned by all.”
7 responses to “The “Emoji”where the hell did they come from???”
I’m crazy about emojis. You’ll know it’s not me if there’s no emoji 😁. I feel they prevent misunderstandings with online communication where it can be easily misconstrued. Emojis let another know I’m joking, which is what I do most of the time 😬…
This is cool information Jason. Learned something new today. You’re a storehouse of information 📚…but your blog site says it 😁
Oh and I think there are still many emojis that are missing…
You know, I was sitting there reading,
and I couldn’t help but wonder—
where did these come from?
Who’s behind them?
So I dug in, started researching.
And naturally… I had to write.
But what really lit me up
was knowing you read it, Iba.
That you enjoyed it—
that delights me more than I expected.
I’ve always wondered about them too but too lazy to you know, stress myself 🤣… it is good there are individuals like you around, I can pilfer information from 🤣… right here is a classic example of the necessity of emojis 😉.
This was a heartwarming read and I love your emoji. So great! ☀️
Thanks Bat.
Interesting and sweet entry.
More info about emojis on emojipedia and, regarding emoji mush-up, you can try “emoji Kitchen” (there are several websites).
I had in mind uploading an entry with some emojis as well… I might do it this week 🤔
Indeed