People always keep in touch. But while many people who were reluctant to write letters now send large volume of electronic correspondence, it is said people have grown away from the warmth of handwritten messages.

Perhaps to make up for some of the facelessness, emoticons (emotive icons) created with symbols and the letters of the alphabet are often used to convey a range of emotions. Writers can show everything from pleasure and sadness to anger and embarrassment. When accompanying a text message, these "smileys" can fill in the emotional gaps in electronically transmitted text.

With the small screens on cell phones, it's easier to get the point across by using a simple picture than by writing a long sentence. Icons can also draw a reader's eye to your message to make sure it doesn't get lost in the in-box. Many people like using icons alone to send short messages, just telling someone else "I'm feeling blue" or "Let's go have some fun!"

It's not just cell phone users who are hooked on the icons. Anyone with a plain old computer keyboard can get in on the fun. One 12 year old living in Tokyo, meanwhile, has taken the emoticon idea a step further and has been creating electronic works of art using not only letters and symbols found in English and Japanese but also in Greek and Russian.

Asuka Ishigaki became hooked when her older sister brought home a notebook computer in May 2000. Her creations have attracted great attention, and she now showcases many of them on a Website.

"I fell in love with smileys and began playing around with them to make them look prettier," explains Asuka, known as Atchi to her fans. "I get an image in my head and try to reproduce it as best as I can on the computer screen using symbols."

"When all you see are words, sometimes you can't tell whether the writer is mad or sad," Atchi adds. "With icons, though, you can tell right away. Although they may be more popular in Japan than elsewhere, anyone can create them by spending a little time with a computer. I hope people around the world will join me in creating original versions!"

Photos: (top) Some examples of "smileys"; (above) Atchi makes "smileys" at home. (Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun)