What Is Kaomoji? Meaning, History & How It Differs From Emoji

Updated · 3 min read

Kaomoji are faces built from text characters — (◕‿◕), (╥﹏╥), ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — that you read upright instead of tilting your head. Here is what the word means, how they grew out of 1980s Japanese computer networks, and why people still use them in a world full of emoji.

What the word kaomoji means

Kaomoji (顔文字) is a Japanese compound: kao (顔) means face and moji (文字) means character or letter. So a kaomoji is literally a "face made of characters." In English they are also called Japanese emoticons, text faces, or verticons.

The plural is usually also kaomoji, the way Japanese nouns work, though you will see "kaomojis" in casual English. Both are understood.

The big idea: faces you read upright

Western emoticons like :-) and ;) are sideways: you tilt your head left to see the face. Kaomoji are horizontal and read straight on, with eyes, mouth, and face outline in their natural places. That small change has a big effect — because the face is upright, the eyes can carry the emotion.

FeelingWestern emoticonKaomoji
Happy:-)(^_^)
Sad:-((╥﹏╥)
Surprised:-O(ﾟoﾟ;)
Wink;-)(^_~)
Embarrassed:-$(〃▽〃)

Notice that Western emoticons mostly change the mouth, while kaomoji change the eyes. This matches a well-known cultural difference in how expressions are read: in Japan, people tend to look to the eyes for emotion, while many Western readers focus on the mouth.

A short history of kaomoji

  • 1982: Computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposes :-) and :-( on a Carnegie Mellon message board to mark jokes — the sideways emoticon is born.
  • 1986: The upright (^_^) face appears on ASCII NET, an early Japanese online network. It is widely credited as one of the first kaomoji.
  • Late 1980s–1990s: Japanese PC networks and mobile phones support thousands of full-width characters, including katakana and symbols, so faces become far more detailed than ASCII allows.
  • 1999: Shigetaka Kurita designs the first widely used emoji set for NTT Docomo phones. Emoji are pictures; kaomoji stay text.
  • 2000s: Forums like 2channel spread complex faces such as (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ and ヽ(´ー｀)ノ, and anime fandoms carry them worldwide.
  • 2010s–today: Unicode support on every phone lets kaomoji travel anywhere text does — Discord, TikTok bios, game chats, and code comments.

Kaomoji vs emoticons vs emoji

EmoticonKaomojiEmoji
Example:-)(◕‿◕)😊
Made ofBasic keyboard symbolsUnicode text charactersPictures in a Unicode font
Reading directionSidewaysUprightUpright
Looks the same everywhereYesMostly (font-dependent)No — each platform draws its own
Range of expressionSmallHuge — combine any partsFixed list, updated yearly

The key advantage of kaomoji is that they are open-ended. Emoji come from a fixed list approved by the Unicode Consortium, but anyone can invent a new kaomoji by swapping eyes, mouths, or arms. That is why libraries hold thousands of them — see the text faces collection — and why you can build your own with the kaomoji generator.

Classic kaomoji to know

  • (^_^)

    Classic smile

    One of the earliest kaomoji; calm and friendly.

  • (◕‿◕)

    Bright smile

    Big round eyes make it read as cheerful and cute.

  • (╥﹏╥)

    Crying

    Streams of tears run down from the eyes.

  • (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

    Table flip

    Frustration so strong the table goes flying.

  • ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Shrug

    "Who knows?" The face is the katakana ツ (tsu).

  • m(_ _)m

    Deep bow

    Hands on the floor, head down: a sincere apology or thanks.

Why people still use kaomoji

  • They carry more nuance: (｡•́︿•̀｡) is a softer kind of sad than 😢.
  • They look the same across devices, while one emoji can look different on iPhone, Android, and Windows.
  • They work in places emoji do not, like plain-text usernames, terminals, and some game chats.
  • They have personality: bears, cats, dancing arms, and sparkles are easy to combine.

Want to start using them? Browse by mood — cute kaomoji is the most popular place to begin — or read our guide on how to type kaomoji on your phone or computer.

Frequently asked questions

  • How do you pronounce kaomoji?

    Kah-oh-moh-jee, with four even syllables: ka-o-mo-ji.

  • Are kaomoji only used in Japan?

    No. They started in Japan but are now used worldwide, especially on Discord, in gaming and anime communities, and in social media bios.

  • Is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ a kaomoji?

    Yes. The shrug is one of the best-known kaomoji. Its face uses the Japanese katakana character ツ (tsu).