Emoticons in Japan

The Emojis we know and love on our Apple devices were first developed from Japan, that's why there are so many emojis individuals in the United States claim as 'useless' because they can't understand what they represent. Japan is often considered to be the epicenter of emoticons. There are key distinctions between emoticons employed in Japan vs. the US. For example, Japan seems to focus more on the eyes of the emoticon, while the US focuses more on the mouth aspect. EX: An American emoticon can be exhibited as ":-)" while a Japanese emoticon displaying the same expression would be more like "^_^". Or a sad face may look like ":-(" in the US, and "(T_T)" in Japan. These differences in emoticons can be attributed to cultural differences between the two societies; Japanese pop culture also focuses on the eyes of characters more. With the popularity of anime and manga throughout Japan, it's not surprising. Many of the characters in both anime and manga demonstrate huge eyes with smaller mouths, a characteristic valued in the "kawaii culture" in Japan, which can be described as a subculture of Japanese popular culture that focuses on mannerisms, behaviors, and style that present an overall 'cute' or 'kawaii' look.
In an article posted on http://blog.btrax.com/ , it's stated that Japan uses emoticons a great deal more than Americans do. Even within Japan, it's noted that women use emoticons more than Japanese men. I believe this can be traced back to the appeal to kawaii culture and how emoticons apply this 'cuteness' aspect to daily conversation.