Click any kaomoji to instantly copy it to your clipboard. 200+ Japanese text emoticons organized by emotion — joy, love, sadness, anger, surprise, animals and more.
By Alex Chen|
Kaomoji - Japanese Text Emoticons
Kaomoji are Japanese-style text emoticons that use Unicode characters to create expressive faces and figures. Unlike Western emoticons that are read sideways (like :-)), kaomoji are read straight on and use a much wider range of characters. Our collection includes over 200 kaomoji organized by emotion, from joyful and loving expressions to angry and surprised reactions.
History and Origin of Kaomoji
The word "kaomoji" comes from the Japanese words "kao" (face) and "moji" (character). These text emoticons originated in Japan in the 1980s on early internet message boards and bulletin board systems. Japanese users had a natural advantage in creating these expressive faces because the Japanese writing system already includes thousands of characters from kanji, katakana, and hiragana scripts. The rich character set made it possible to create far more detailed and expressive emoticons than what was possible with the basic ASCII characters available to Western users.
Types of Kaomoji
Joy kaomoji express happiness, laughter, and delight. They typically feature upturned eyes and wide smiles, like (＾▽＾) and (≧◡≦). Many joy kaomoji include asterisks and special characters for a blushing or sparkling effect.
Love kaomoji convey affection, romance, and adoration. Heart characters and blushing marks are common, as in (♡˙︶˙♡) and (♡‿♡).
Animal kaomoji depict cute animals using creative character combinations. The cat face (=＾･ω･＾=) and bear face ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ are among the most popular.
Magic and sparkle kaomoji add decorative elements like stars, sparkles, and glitter around the face, perfect for celebratory or whimsical messages.
Where to Use Kaomoji
Discord servers - Popular in anime and gaming communities
Twitter/X posts - Add personality within character limits
Instagram captions - Cute additions to photos and stories
Text messages - Express emotions beyond standard emoji
Reddit comments - A staple of many subreddit communities
Twitch chat - React to streams with Japanese flair
Email and forums - Universal text that works everywhere
Kaomoji are Japanese-style text emoticons made from Unicode characters. Unlike Western emoticons that are read sideways (like :-)), kaomoji are read straight on and use a wider variety of characters including Japanese katakana, mathematical symbols, and special Unicode characters. The word kaomoji comes from the Japanese words "kao" (face) and "moji" (character).
Simply click on any kaomoji on this page and it will be instantly copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it anywhere using Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac).
Yes! Kaomoji are made from standard Unicode characters and work on virtually all modern platforms. They display correctly on Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Reddit, iMessage, and most other apps and websites.
Kaomoji are text-based emoticons made by combining multiple Unicode characters to form a face. Emoji are single pictographic characters that render as small images. Kaomoji look the same on all platforms because they are plain text, while emoji may display differently depending on the device or operating system.
Kaomoji originated in Japan in the 1980s on early internet message boards and forums. They became popular because the Japanese writing system already used a wide variety of characters, making it natural to combine them into expressive faces. Kaomoji culture grew alongside Japanese internet culture and spread worldwide through anime, gaming, and social media communities.