Docomo

NTT Docomo, formerly known as DoCoMo, is a prominent Japanese mobile carrier that made history by launching the innovative i-mode mobile internet service in early 1999. This service was a pioneer in mobile network access and included one of the first sets of emojis, which later gained worldwide popularity. The creation of the iconic i-mode emoji set was undertaken by talented interface designer Shigetaka Kurita. It’s important to note that, although Kurita’s emoji set introduced in 1999 is often called the first-ever, it’s more accurate to consider it among the first. This is because historians have uncovered earlier examples of emoji usage, albeit on less widespread platforms than Docomo’s i-mode.

The latest update to Docomo’s emoji set was released in 2013. For over ten years, from that point until 2025, the emoji created by Docomo were used on Android smartphones specially made for Docomo by industry giants like Samsung and Sony. Interestingly, to display emoji symbols not included in the 2013 Docomo set, devices by default used Google’s Noto Color Emoji. This allowed users to see all modern emojis even if they weren’t part of Docomo’s official set. It’s important to emphasize that every emoji in every emoji set existing before 2010 was mapped to its current Unicode code point. This was done despite many of these sets appearing before the Unicode emoji standard became an industry-wide practice. Such mapping ensured compatibility of older emoji sets with modern systems and applications, helping to continue their spread and use.

Emojis from Docomo 2013 are displayed below.

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