emoji. You might expect this book to be about those bright ­yellow smileys. Yet, emoji means picture-writing, or pictogram, with the Japanese word holding two parts: e (絵) for picture, and moji (文字) for character, letter, or complete writing system.

kanji. You might have heard that kanji—the Japanese term for Chinese characters—is ideographic; that you can always ‘read’ the meaning within the form. That’s a myth! The main body of kanji is phono-logographic, or linked to both pronunciation and meaning.

e/moji graphy: the essence of kanji, visually is the third volume in Mariko Takagi’s series on the Japanese writing system, following Hanzi Graphy (in English) and Kanji Graphy (in German). With its new clarity and terminology, this book is an indispensable guide for people interested in visualising the intersections of writing, reading, typography, and culture.