On April 28, 2015, President Obama publicly thanked Japan for "manga and anime, and, of course, emojis." How did emoji wind up at the White House? It was a long and winding road, and I wrote about it for the New Yorker. (Above, a set of some of the very earliest emoji released by DoCoMo in 1999 and 2000.)
May 07, 2015
January 31, 2013
Kawaiisrael
From the Israel in Japan Facebook page, a contest that proves yet again that no concept can escape being made into a yuru-kyara mascot.
This time, the mission is to design a supercute character to represent the Israeli Embassy of Tokyo. As always, the point is to ride that fine line between silly and just plain lame - and don't forget to toss in as many local foods, customs, and tourist attractions as possible. Meet some of the top contenders below.
Lions and menorahs:
A positively proctological kebab:
Falaffels in a pod:
Meshugana for moé:
Cats? Why not.
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