Sadness or confusion? If you are from the US or another western country, then this emoticon ":-(" probably means you are blue. But what if you're Asian? Well, in Japan, it seems, they view the textual representation of a face a little differently. We shouldn't use the example of what happens in Nihon to generalize across Asia, but those of you based out here would know that there are similarities in cultural norms amongst Northeast Asian/Confucian nations. Certainly in Taiwan, folks share a bit with the Japanese.



So what about this emoticon thing? It seems Masaki Yuki, a scientist at Hokkaido University, found that "culture is a huge factor in determining whether we look someone in the eye or the mouth to interpret facial expressions."

So, if we westerners use ":-(" to show sadness, a kid in Kyoto may use ";_;".

This, of course, may go beyond what is used for "texting" and SMS, and into the "real" world. It could explain why, for example, you rarely see full-on open-mouth smiles (and often see what could be interpreted as a "grimace") in photos taken of Northeast Asians.

"Japanese people tend to shy away from overt displays of emotions, and rarely smile or frown with their mouths," Yuki explained. "Because the Japanese culture tends to emphasize conformity, humbleness and emotional suppression, traits that are thought to promote better relationships."

Anyway, relevant or not, I think this is pretty fascinating. You can read more here:
LiveScience.com

More to come.
-jag

 

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