Elena Giannoulis is Junior Professor for Japanese Literature at the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.Lukas R.A. Wilde is Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 923 "Threatened Order—Societies under Stress" at the University of Tuebingen, Germany.

• 1. Emoticons, Kaomoji, and Emoji: The Transformation of Communication in the Digital Age Part 1: Intercultural Mediations2. Not Everyone ����s: Or, The Question of Emoji as a ‘Universal’ Form of Expression 3. Cultural Literacy in the Empire of Emoji Signs: Who is ����? 4. Emoticons: Digital Lingua Franca or a Culture-Specific Product Leading to Misunderstandings? Part 2: Intersectional Mediations5. 'Impact taisetsu da!': The Use of Emoji and Kaomoji in Dansō Escort Blogs between Gender Expression and Emotional Labour 6. Emoticons in Social Media: The Case of Japanese Facebook Users Part 3: Linguistic Mediations7. ‘Iconographetic Communication’ in Digital Media: Emoji in WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook—from a Linguistic Perspective 8. A Cultural Exploration of the Use of Kaomoji, Emoji, and Kigō in Japanese Blog Post Narratives Part 4: Pictorial Mediations9. The Elephant in the Room of Emoji-Research: Or, Pictoriality, to What Extent? 10. Construction of Iconicity in Scenes of Kaomoji Part 5: Material Mediations11. Who Is Afraid of Mr. Yuk? The Display of the Basic Emotion of Disgust in an ‘Analogue Precursor’ to Contemporary Emoji 12. From Digital to Analog: Kaomoji on the Prayer Tablets of Anime Pilgrims