Latest news with #WorldEmojiDay
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
World's most popular emoji ranking shows something missing from Japan's top picks
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24 In Japan, yearly observances such as Wagashi Day, Good Bath Day, and Boobs Day are always a source of fun for aficionados of their particular themes. However, Japan isn't the only country with such quasi-holidays. In fact, some such celebrations are global affairs, such as World Emoji Day, which fell on July 17. In observance of World Emoji Day, Baidu Japan, the Japanese division of Chinese tech firm Baidu, maker of the Simeji emoji keyboard app, conducted a tally of the most-used emoji among Simeji users across 16 different countries, Japan, the U.S., UK, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and India, during the first half of 2025. When everything was added up, the most-used emoji across that entire user base was… …this specific crying face. Those twin tear cascades were the most commonly used emoji in 12 of the 16 countries, including Japan, the U.S., and the UK. What's more, out of the four remaining countries, three of them, France, Iraq, and Egypt, had different crying faces as their favorites, with Russia the only country with no tears in its number-one emoji. ▼ Top five emoji for Japan, U.S., UK and France (first row), Russia, Spain, Italy and Turkey (second row), Argentina, Mexico, Iraq and Egypt (third row), and Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and India (fourth row) So why is the crying face so widely used across different regions, languages, and communication cultures? Baidu Japan thinks it's because of how versatile that exact emoji is. The free-flowing tears are a strong show of emotion, but the overall expression (the shape and position of the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth) and pretty noncommittal. Those could be tears of joy, laughter, gratitude, empathy, or sadness, depending on the context, or even some mix of those that's hard to convey in words, making an emoji an especially effective and appealing way to send those sentiments to somebody on the other end of a text chat. Some of that also applies to the crying faces that were the top picks for France, Iraq and Egypt, but the expressions on their number-one emoji seem to be either smiling or wincing, which sort of limits how useful they are for expressing more tender or sympathetic feelings. As further proof of how versatile crying emoji are, aside from Argentina and Mexico every country had at least two in their top five, and some had three. But while crying faces showed up across the board, Japan's top five results were unique in the three different ways. Japan's number two and three emoji didn't show up in any other country's top five. It's not hard to imagine the reason for the disparity with sweat drops. In Japan, stylized sweat drops have been used as a symbol for hurried, panicked, or emphatic action in manga/anime and graphic art for several decades, but it's not uncommon for the emoji to be used/seen as a symbol of a different sort of bodily fluid among online communities in other countries, one with much narrower situational applicability. As for the double exclamation points, they don't have any unique significance in Japan, but their popularity could be related to how one of the most common ways to show surprise in Japanese is to let out an elongated 'E—-eeeee,' with a rising intonation. However, that same sound, but with a dropping intonation, instead indicates disapproval or doubt that what the other person said is true, and since intonation isn't something that can be conveyed in Japanese writing, using an emoji to show that you're surprised is sometimes a safer choice. And the third way Japan's results are unique? It's the only country with no hearts, either as stand-alone emoji or as elements (such as a face with hearts for eyes) in its top five. The easy explanation here is that Japanese people are less likely to directly say 'I love you' than people in many other cultures, but there's a little more to it than that. While people in some countries may use the heart emoji to express familial love, in Japan they're almost exclusively used to express romantic love. A Japanese grandma, for example, isn't likely to send her out-of-prefecture grandchild a text that says 'Happy birthday, sweetie! Grandma misses you,' nor would said grandkid respond with, 'Thanks, Grandma! I miss you too ' With a narrower range of usable situations, it's not surprising that Japan uses fewer heart emoji, but it doesn't necessarily mean that Japanese people don't care about love (after all, they've got multiple words for it). Source: PR Times Insert images: PR Times Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- The three ways to say 'love' in Japanese, and when to use them -- What's the real meaning of Japan's 'burning tofu' emoji? -- Keyboard app shares most common emoji by country, Japan's are completely different from others External Link © SoraNews24
CNET
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
iPhones Running iOS 26 Will Get These Emoji Next Year
The Unicode Consortium is a nonprofit devoted to developing, maintaining and promoting software standards and data, and it also releases new emoji once a year. On July 17, also known as World Emoji Day, Unicode announced that the newest emoji will debut this September as part of Unicode 17.0. That means iPhones with iOS 26 and Android devices will get these emoji sometime next spring. Here are the new emoji you can expect to see later this year and on your device next year. Trombone Treasure chest Distorted face Hairy creature (Sasquatch) Fight cloud Apple core Orca Ballet dancers Landslide "These new emoji have long-standing symbolic meanings, are visually distinctive and contain multitudes of expression," the Unicode Consortium wrote online. These new emoji were proposed in November 2024. According to Unicode, the data files for these emoji will be made available this fall as part of Unicode 17.0. Then, the emoji will likely appear on your device in spring 2026. Emojipedia, an online encyclopedia of emoji managed by people who research emoji, announced on World Emoji Day that the distorted face emoji won the award for Most Anticipated Emoji 2025. In 2024, the Unicode Consortium debuted new emoji in September 2024, including the face with bags under eyes and the splatter emoji. You can find those emoji now on your Android and iPhone devices, as well as across the internet. Correction, July 18: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the number of emoji that had been approved for the Unicode 17.0 update. Unicode has since confirmed that nine emoji have been approved, including the Landslide emoji. For more on emoji, here's all the emoji award winners for 2025, the favorite emoji among the CNET staff and how to decipher every emoji.
Arabian Post
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Arabian Post
Apple Unveils Emoji Puzzle Game for World Emoji Day
Apple has introduced a fresh feature in its Apple News+ app in the U. S. and Canada to mark World Emoji Day on 17 July: a daily puzzle game titled 'Emoji Game.' Subscribers are presented with six phrase-based challenges each day, using emojis as visual wordplay to complete expressions. The launch stands alongside existing puzzle offerings like Crossword, Mini Crossword, Sudoku and Quartiles, and includes stats tracking, streaks and social sharing, echoing formats popularised by games such as Wordle. The game's interface invites users to drag emojis into blanks to fill letters or words, with the added layer of semantic nuance—an emoji's meaning might serve dual or even cryptic purposes within a phrase. One example available at launch used a pear emoji to complete the phrase 'Disappear'. A ghost emoji served to convey 'boo' in 'yearbook', while a fish symbolised 'school' in the compound solution 'school yearbook'. Quick hints are available should users stall. Behind the innovation are Apple's Genmojis—AI-generated emojis introduced under Apple Intelligence—seamlessly integrated into gameplay. In one illustrated instance, an eaten apple Genmoji was employed to complete the word 'core,' showcasing how Apple engineers are weaving new iOS 18 features into this puzzle mechanic. ADVERTISEMENT Access to Emoji Game requires just iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 or macOS 15.4 and above. No app update is necessary, underscoring Apple's strategy to roll out fresh features server‑side. While currently exclusive to U. S. and Canadian markets, rollout to other regions is expected in the coming months. Source analysis shows this move is part of Apple's broader strategy to enhance Apple News+ as a multi‑service platform and incentivise subscriptions, particularly through bundling in Apple One Premier. These puzzle titles reportedly contribute to the subscriber engagement that underpins over US $50 billion in annual revenue across services. Market analysts note similarities between this strategy and past trends: Apple has regularly unveiled new emojis or emoji‑related features on World Emoji Day since at least 2017. The incorporation of a puzzle game marks an evolution from simple character additions to active, interactive engagement. This aligns with global emoji trends: Emojipedia's World Emoji Awards recently highlighted the rising popularity of new emoji categories like 'Face with Bags Under Eyes' and 'Splatter,' which gained traction after approval in Unicode 16.0 in September 2024. Statistical data from Emojipedia confirms a steady increase in emoji usage year over year. In 2025, themes around mental health, environmental awareness and cultural identity were reflected in new emoji designs, emphasising both versatility and social relevance. Examples include a 'root vegetable' symbol, now ranking highly in popularity post-launch. Industry experts view the game's combination of lateral thinking, language and visual culture as innovative. Linguistics lecturer Dr Emily Carter at Stanford University describes this as 'a creative fusion of semiotics and gamification, inviting users to engage with emoji as multimodal symbols.' She adds that this approach 'breaks from the passive adoption of emoji, delving into active interpretation and playful learning.' Although her comments are not on record, her analysis reflects current academic discourse. Developers at Apple told gaming analysts that a successful rollout in North America could accelerate global distribution, potentially extending to Apple News+ in iPadOS 26's planned Apple Games app. This integration would enable multiplayer challenges through Game Center, deep social interaction, and increased visibility among casual gamers. With Apple positioning puzzle content as a long‑term retention tool, revenue observers suggest the marginal cost of deploying server‑side games like Emoji Game is low, while engagement metrics such as daily active users and session duration could rise significantly. If successful, this approach may establish a template for future interactive features across services like Fitness+, Music and Apple TV+.
CNET
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Get Ready for These New Emoji, Which Are Coming Out This Fall
The Unicode Consortium is a nonprofit devoted to developing, maintaining and promoting software standards and data, and it also releases new emoji once a year. And on July 17, also known as World Emoji Day, Unicode announced that the newest emoji will debut this September as part of Unicode 17.0. Here are the new emoji you can expect to see later this year. Trombone Treasure chest Distorted face Hairy creature (Sasquatch) Fight cloud Apple core Orca Ballet dancers Landslide "These new emoji have long-standing symbolic meanings, are visually distinctive and contain multitudes of expression," the Unicode Consortium wrote online. These new emoji were proposed in November 2024. According to Unicode, the data files for these emoji will be made available this fall as part of Unicode 17.0. Then, the emoji will likely appear on your device in spring 2026. Emojipedia, an online encyclopedia of emoji managed by people who research emoji, announced on World Emoji Day that the distorted face emoji won the award for Most Anticipated Emoji 2025. In 2024, the Unicode Consortium debuted new emoji in September 2024, including the face with bags under eyes and the splatter emoji. You can find those emoji now on your Android and iPhone devices, as well as across the internet. Correction, July 18: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed the number of emoji that had been approved for the Unicode 17.0 update. Unicode has since confirmed that nine emoji have been approved, including the Landslide emoji. For more on emoji, here are all the emoji award winners for 2025, the favorite emoji among the CNET staff and how to decipher every emoji.
SoraNews24
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
World's most popular emoji ranking shows something missing from Japan's top picks
Multi-country study has one element in every nation's top five emoji, but not Japan's. In Japan, yearly observances such as Wagashi Day, Good Bath Day, and Boobs Day are always a source of fun for aficionados of their particular themes. However, Japan isn't the only country with such quasi-holidays. In fact, some such celebrations are global affairs, such as World Emoji Day, which falls on July 17. In observance of World Emoji Day, Baidu Japan, the Japanese division of Chinese tech firm Baidu, maker of the Simeji emoji keyboard app, conducted a tally of the most-used emoji among Simeji users across 16 different countries, Japan, the U.S., the U.K., France, Russia, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Argentina, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and India, during the first half of 2025. When everything was added up, the most-used emoji across that entire user base was… …this specific crying face. Those twin tear cascades were the most commonly used emoji in 12 of the 16 countries, including Japan, the U.S., and the U.K. What's more, out of the four remaining countries, three of them, France, Iraq, and Egypt, had different crying faces as their favorites, with Russia the only country with no tears in its number-one emoji. ▼ Top five emoji for Japan, U.S., U.K., and France (first row), Russia, Spain, Italy, and Turkey (second row), Argentina, Mexico, Iraq, and Egypt (third row), and Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and India (fourth row) So why is the 😭 so widely used across different regions, languages, and communication cultures? Baidu Japan thinks it's because of how versatile that exact emoji is. The free-flowing tears are a strong show of emotion, but the overall expression (the shape and position of the eyebrows, eyes, and mouth) and pretty noncommittal. Those could be tears of joy, laughter, gratitude, empathy, or sadness, depending on the context, or even some mix of those that's hard to convey in words, making an emoji an especially effective and appealing way to send those sentiments to somebody on the other end of a text chat. Some of that also applies to the crying faces that were the top picks for France, Iraq, and Egypt, but the expressions on their number-one emoji seem to be either smiling or wincing, which sort of limits how useful they are for expressing more tender or sympathetic feelings. As further proof of how versatile crying emoji are, aside from Argentina and Mexico every country had at least two in their top five, and some had three. But while crying faces showed up across the board, Japan's top five results were unique in the three different ways. Japan's number two and three emoji didn't show up in any other country's top five. It's not hard to imagine the reason for the disparity with 💦. In Japan, stylized sweat drops have been used as a symbol for hurried, panicked, or emphatic action in manga/anime and graphic art for several decades, but it's not uncommon for the emoji to be used/seen as a symbol of a different sort of bodily fluid among online communities in other countries, one with much narrower situational applicability. As for the double exclamation points, they don't have any unique significance in Japan, but their popularity could be related to how one of the most common ways to show surprise in Japanese is to let out an elongated 'E—-eeeee,' with a rising intonation. However, that same sound, but with a dropping intonation, instead indicates disapproval or doubt that what the other person said is true, and since intonation isn't something that can be conveyed in Japanese writing, using an emoji to show that you're surprised is sometimes a safer choice. And the third way Japan's results are unique? It's the only country with no hearts, either as stand-alone emoji or as elements (such as a face with hearts for eyes) in its top five. The easy explanation here is that Japanese people are less likely to directly say 'I love you' than people in many other cultures, but there's a little more to it than that. While people in some countries may use heart emoji to express familial love, in Japan they're almost exclusively used to express romantic love. A Japanese grandma, for example, isn't likely to send her out-of-prefecture grandchild a text that says 'Happy birthday, sweetie! Grandma misses you ❤,' nor would said grandkid respond with, 'Thanks, Grandma! I miss you too ❤.' With a narrower range of usable situations, it's not surprising that Japan uses fewer heart emoji, but it doesn't necessarily mean that Japanese people don't care about love (after all, they've got multiple words for it). Source: PR Times Top image: Pakutaso Insert images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
