How would you explain to a Victorian-era time traveller that in 2025 our systems of communication have become so advanced that we can both read the works of Shakespeare on a gizmo the size of a cigarette pack — and express our thoughts with a pile of poo?

While smartphones link us to the corpus of world knowledge, emojis allow a portal to the corpus of crap, all in the name of instant messaging. Around 10 billion emojis are sent everyday, from a storehouse of 3,600-plus pictorial images ranging from the vulgar (see above) to the pornographic (eggplants).

Born from the words for “pictures” and “written characters,” the emoji is a natural extension of the visual symbolism that suffuses Japanese culture and public life, notes Keith Houston in his book, Face With Tears of Joy. Wired calls th

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