This is a good piece on the history of emoji and the role of NTT Docomo and Softbank https://blog.emojipedia.org/correcting-the-record-on-the-first-emoji-set/#

This is a good piece on the history of emoji and the role of NTT Docomo and Softbank https://blog.emojipedia.org/correcting-the-record-on-the-first-emoji-set/#:~:text=The%2090%20emojis%20from%20SoftBank%20in%201997%20predate,cited%20%28including%20by%20Emojipedia%29%20as%20being%20the%20first. https://blog.emojipedia.org/correcting-the-record-on-the-fir...