Shigetaka Kurita

Cultural/Communication

Artiste japonais qui a créé le premier ensemble d'emoji — 176 designs de 12×12 pixels pour le service internet mobile i-mode de NTT DoCoMo en 1999.

Shigetaka Kurita was a member of the team developing NTT DoCoMo's i-mode mobile internet service in the late 1990s. He created 176 emoji to help facilitate electronic communication, drawing inspiration from manga, kanji, and street signs.

The original 176 emoji covered weather, traffic, technology, and basic emotions in a 12×12 pixel grid — far simpler than today's detailed designs. Kurita's original emoji set is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Though Kurita created the first set, emoji evolved through contributions from multiple Japanese carriers before Unicode standardization in 2010.

Termes associés

Emoji Emoji
Mot japonais (絵文字) signifiant 'caractère image' — petits symboles graphiques utilisés dans la communication numérique pour exprimer des idées, des émotions et des objets. i-mode i-mode
La plateforme internet mobile de NTT DoCoMo lancée en 1999, où les premiers emoji ont été créés pour enrichir la communication par texte.

Outils associés

📊 Statistiques emoji Statistiques emoji
Explorez les statistiques sur l'ensemble des emojis Unicode — répartition par catégorie, évolution par version, détail par type.

Articles associés

How Different Generations Use Emoji: Gen Z vs Millennials vs Boomers
Gen Z, Millennials, and Boomers use emoji in completely different ways. Discover the generational gap in digital expression and what it signals.
The History of Emoji: From DoCoMo to Unicode
Trace the complete history of emoji from Shigetaka Kurita's 176 pixel icons at NTT DoCoMo in 1999 to today's 3,900+ Unicode standard.
How Emoji Designs Have Changed Over the Years: A Visual History
From pixelated origins to 3D renders, explore how emoji designs have evolved — and what those changes reveal about society and design.