Emoji has nothing to do with the English word emoticon.
 Emoji use differ between cultures: studies in terms of Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory found that cultures with high power distance and tolerance to indulgence used more negative emojis, while those with high uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and long-term orientation use more positive emojis
Some emoji are specific to Japanese culture, such as a bowing businessman (U+1F647  ), the shoshinsha mark used to indicate a beginner driver (U+1F530  ), a white flower (U+1F4AE  ) used to denote "brilliant homework", or a group of emoji representing popular foods: ramen noodles (U+1F35C  ), dango (U+1F361  ), onigiri (U+1F359  ), curry (U+1F35B  ), and sushi (U+1F363  )

