[wodenokoto]

Emoji was basically created to add graphics to Japanese mobile websites in the late nineties when people paid by the byte.

Back then the supplier of the websites also made the phones, and you could only access specific mobile webs depending on your carrier.

The original emoji were mostly create to facilitate online shopping for train tickets for vacation and ringtones. So a lot of these represent travel, food and landmarks.

Edit: this is for Japanese handsets and carriers. That was pretty unclear before the edit