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Though Japan is always on the forefront of emoji developments (it’s where the word “emoji” originated, after all), it’s also got a deep emoticon culture as well. That’s partially thanks to the wide array of building blocks the Japanese written language provides, which allow for all sorts of creative text-based artwork.
For example, when tweeting about local activities and events, the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ Ehime Provincial Cooperation Office often punctuates its messages with an emoticon (or kaomoji/”face word”) of a chubby-cheeked smiley face flashing a salute with enough snap to produce a pair of motion lines.
However, on June 10, the Ehime Provincial Cooperation Office issued a solemn, official apology for its repeated use of the above emoticon, adding that they “sincerely regret” using it.
So what’s the problem? Is it considered too cutesy for a rough-and-tough, ready-to-fight group like the JSDF? Of course not. The JSDF itself has no problem with being kawaii, and the Ehime Provincial Cooperation Office even has its own adorable in-uniform illustrated mascot character, the river otter Kawacchi.
▼ Kawacchi
Nope, the problem isn’t that the account was using an emoticon for a salute, but that the salute wasn’t being performed correctly.
In apology
Up until now, when posting we have used (｀∪´)ゞas a salute. This shows a salute being performed with the left hand, which is not the correct way of saluting.
As a public relations section of the Self-Defense Forces, we wish to offer our apologies. We sincerely regret our actions, and in the future we will be using ∠(｀･ω･´)
So no, saluting kaomoji aren’t going away, they’re just being improved. It’s not clear why the account has decided to change the facial features as well, but moving forward its emoticons will be saluting with the correct right arm, and as one commenter pointed out, the right-salute emoticon’s bicep is parallel to the ground, which represents another improvement on the sloppier angle of the left-arm salute version.
Naturally, following the lesson in proper JSDF etiquette, the salute was swiftly returned in kind, with a few facial variations on display.
As silly as the subject matter may be, though, the wording of the Provincial Cooperation Office’s tweet shows that the apology is sincere, because at the end of the day in Japan you can be as cute as you want to be, just as long as you’re also polite.
Source: Twitter/@ehime_pco via IT Media
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- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2020/06/15/japan-self-defense-forces-twitter-account-issues-apology-for-cute-emoticon-salute/
10 Comments
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PerformingMonkey
(1) Space for online news is practically unlimited.
(2) People are more than capable of complaining about multiple things simultaneously.
(3) The article does not state that this change was in response to an outside complaint.
*juminRhee
My thought was the eyes being perceived as racist stereotype.
that person
Waste of an article. With everything that’s going on in this country, you’d think people have better things to complain about!
rainyday
My being stupid enough to get suckered in doesn't change the fact that this is a crap article. I just want that point noted.
Also, its not so much that the subject matter was trivial, but that it was boring. I've read enough of these Sora News things to know that none of it is earth shattering. But trivial stuff doesn't have to be boring, it should be entertaining or amusing in some way. This wasn't. It was just a set up with no pay off.
rainyday
Tend to agree it was a complete waste of an article.
True but its not about space, its about readers' time and how the article is written. The article has a click bait headline and image at the top implying something worthy of notice happened. Then you have to read all the way to the bottom to find out that really nothing of consequence happened at all. A single line:
"SDF accidentally puts emoji in reverse order, corrects itself over mistake that nobody found offensive or really cared about to begin with"
could have saved us from wasting a couple of minutes on this useless article.
juminRhee
Especially with blacklash of protests. They got rid of aunt jemima mascot, after all.
albaleo
I'd be interested to know what the Ehime Provincial Cooperation Office is. What do they do? Is it a government or prefectural organization or something else?
OssanAmerica
While it's a rather insignficant tidbit that doesn't warrant any space on a "news" site, in principle the complainer is correct. A military salute is done with the right hand, going back to medevial days when knights lifted their helmet visors with their weapon hand. Naturally there are exceptions in some cases.Now I can wonder if there are otters in Ehime.
Bugle Boy of Company B
The real reason is because the text was black. (rolls eyes)
garypen
To people whining about wasting their time reading this article:
You could have simply not clicked on it, and avoided wasting the precious 20 seconds of your very, very important lives.
It was clear from the headline that it was going to be about a relatively trivial subject. And, lo and behold, it was. So, in the future, you may want to take the 5 seconds to read the headline before clicking and wasting 20 seconds. You'd still be 15 seconds ahead of the game.