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NTT Docomo Ends i-Mode Mobile Service That Pioneered the Emoji

  • NTT Docomo’s Osaifu-Keitai service—literally “wallet cellphone”—enabled payment by holding an i-Mode phone over a convenience store register. Photo from a presentation in Chiyoda, Tokyo, on June 16, 2004. (© Jiji)

    NTT Docomo’s Osaifu-Keitai service—literally “wallet cellphone”—enabled payment by holding an i-Mode phone over a convenience store register. Photo from a presentation in Chiyoda, Tokyo, on June 16, 2004. (© Jiji)

  • A menu screen from an early version of i-Mode in December 2000. (© Jiji Press Photo)

    A menu screen from an early version of i-Mode in December 2000. (© Jiji Press Photo)

  • The original 176 emoji created at the launch of i-Mode, later added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2016. (Courtesy MoMA; via Jiji)

    The original 176 emoji created at the launch of i-Mode, later added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2016. (Courtesy MoMA; via Jiji)

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