To celebrate “World Emoji Day” on July 17 with the world, Agriculture Department, New Taipei City government (hereinafter referred to as The Department) held the pop-up event of “Yellow Smiley Emojis Take over Lover’s Bridge” yesterday afternoon (17th). When the sun was about to set, yellow smiley face balloons and emoji stickers were distributed around the bridge to let people customize their own emoji balloons. Additionally, emoji frames for check-in were provided for people to take photographs and share their moods with others to celebrate the holiday.
Emojis are the most direct way to express one’s feelings online for the Internet generation, and it is a common language for the entire Internet world in spite of nationalities. On the pop-up event of “Yellow Smiley Emojis Take over Lover’s Bridge,” staff of The Department distributed 1,000 yellow smiley face balloons to visualize emojis at the Fisherman’s Wharf. It is hoped that everyone could enjoy recreation at the fishing port, celebrating this interesting holiday together.
The first emoji in the world was created by Shigetaka Kurita of Japan in the 1990s and developed by NTT DoCoMo, au/KDDI and Softbank, three large telecommunications service providers in Japan. When the emoji was displayed on the Macworld Expo of Apple Inc. on July 17, 2002, the icon of iCal was July 17 as well. Therefore, the date has been chosen as “World Emoji Day.”
The Department stated that to promote the transition of fishing ports, Shenao Fishing Port, Daner Fishing Port and Caoli Fishing Port successively held a series of events. In addition to these events, stores around the fishing ports along with triple stimulus vouchers enable people enjoy promotions and lotteries at fishing ports and fish markets. Meanwhile, the pop-up event of “World Emoji Day” was held to increase interest to the fishing ports, letting people enjoy more recreational activities at fishing ports.