What is Kaomoji? The Complete Guide to Japanese Text Emoticons
Kaomoji (顔文字) are Japanese text emoticons made from Unicode characters. Unlike Western emoticons like :) that you read sideways, kaomoji are designed to be read straight on. Here's everything you need to know.
What Does Kaomoji Mean?
The word kaomoji comes from Japanese: 顔 (kao) meaning 'face' and 文字 (moji) meaning 'character' or 'letter'. So kaomoji literally means 'face characters'.
The term and format are associated with Japanese digital communication and later spread through online communities. This guide does not claim one precise first kaomoji or origin date.
Kaomoji vs Emoticons vs Emoji
Emoticons: Western text faces read sideways :-) :( ;-)
Kaomoji: Japanese text faces read straight on (◕‿◕) (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Emoji: Image-based pictographs standardized by Unicode 😊 ❤️ 🎉
Common Kaomoji Examples
(◕‿◕) — Happy, content
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — Shrug, whatever
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ — Table flip, frustrated
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) — Lenny face, suggestive/mischievous
(ง°ล͜°)ง — Fight! challenge
ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ — Bear
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ — Hug
ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ — Surprise
How to Use Kaomoji
Copy and paste kaomoji directly from PasteMoji's kaomoji section. Many editable fields accept them, but font coverage, character limits, and platform rules can change the result.
Some kaomoji use special Unicode characters that may not display correctly on all devices. Test before using in professional contexts.
Kaomoji by Mood
Happy: (◕‿◕) (*^▽^*) ╰(*°▽°*)╯
Sad: (T_T) (ノ_<。) o(╥﹏╥)o
Love: (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ (♡°▽°♡)
Angry: (ง°ل͜°)ง (╬ಠ益ಠ)
Surprised: (ʘᗩʘ') ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ
“Copyable does not mean identical everywhere; rendering belongs to the receiving system.”
PasteMoji editorial principle
How this article was made
We organized copyable examples into reader-facing categories and used official Unicode material only for factual claims about characters or encoding. Category labels and mood descriptions are editorial aids.
- Group characters or text faces by the task a reader is trying to complete.
- Check official character information when the article makes an encoding claim.
- Remove duplicates and examples that do not survive plain-text copy and paste.
- Add a compatibility warning where fonts or applications may render the text differently.
Limitations
- Font coverage, normalization, input validation, and platform policies can change how a copied character appears or whether it is accepted.
- Editorial groupings are practical labels, not official Unicode categories unless a source explicitly says so.
Review disclosure: the named reviewer is the same internal editorial organization as the author, not an independent subject-matter expert.
Sources and citations
[1] What is Unicode?
Unicode Consortium
Supports: Unicode's role as a character-encoding standard across software and languages.
Corrections
No correction note accompanies this edition. If we materially correct a factual error, we add a dated note and follow our corrections policy.