emoticon

Japan would like to remind you that “emoji” has nothing to do with “emotion”

Common sense might lead you to believe that “emoji” is simply a variation of “emoticon,” but Japanese common sense tells a whole different story.

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Emoti-pup! Twitter users’ hearts melt at photo of puppy with natural “frowny face” markings

Twitter exploded in a mess of coos and smiles last night when a single photo of a puppy whose markings look almost exactly like the classic Japanese “frowny face” emoticon (>_<) was shared by user panda_tamio. Puppies rarely have to try especially hard to be adorable, but this one may just be the cutest thing we’ve seen all week.

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Age-old Activity of Hitomoji Given a 21st Century Facelift by Students’ Human Emoticon

The above photo has been getting a lot of buzz on Twitter recently, possibly because it has a deeper message than even the students who made it intended.

Students spelling out messages en masse with their bodies is nothing new in Japan. Called hitomoji (human letters) it’s long been used in celebration of milestones for businesses and school graduations. This one, however, is just that little bit cooler.

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