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Japanese emoji is Kaomoji. Emoji is amazing and great.
Forget about using your regular Emoji’s and convert to Kaomoji (顔文字), Japan’s version of the Emoji. Kaomoji are made up of grammar, special character and punctuation all of which can be found on your regular keyboard or keypad.
The History of the Kaomoji
(- -)➡(>_<)➡ (* ^ ω ^)➡ (´ ∀ ` *)➡٩(◕‿◕｡)۶➡☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆
The word Kaomoji comes from combining, kao顔 – face and moji 文字 – character.
The popularity and first usage of Kaomoji came about in 1986 after the popularization of the classic, : – ) Emoji. Japan took this a step further and developed a way incorporating Katakana to create Kaomoji so you didn’t have to tilt your head on the side to comprehend the text based imagery.
Japanese users of Kaomoji in the late 80’s used them to fulfil a simple purpose. They didn’t want their tone and emotions to be misunderstood when it came to sending messages. For example, something they intended to be a joke would be hard to decipher the feel without the use of Kaomoji. It was away for them to express their emotion with more than just words.
In contrast to the western emoji, the Japanese pay more attention to the eyes, rather than the mouth, for their Kaomoji. They could be almost compared to the art style of Japanese Manga and anime as the big eyes and “kawaii” feel of them really go hand in hand.
The Japanese emoticons were so popular that in 2007 they were inputted into most electronic language devices and users could type in the words that represented the kaomoji to call upon them at will. This would make communication with kaomoji really quick and simple for the user.
Westerners adopted this style of anime-like emoticons through their own English keyboard, coming up with the infamous Kirby style emoticon. <(^_^<), <(o_o<), <( -‘.’- )>, <(‘.’-^)
Different Kaomoji Emotions
Now we are going to have a look at all of the different types of emotion you are able to express through Kaomoji and show you what they look like too.
What a fantastic way to make someone’s day by sending a wonderful image of pure joy! Or maybe you could send a message of confusion with a simple Kaomoji to make it known that you really don’t understand what’s going on. Let’s take a look at some of these different emotions.
| (* ^ ω ^) | Happiness | This cute little guys eye’s are certainly happy, to create this effect you use a “caret” and simply press shift and the number 6 on your keyboard. |
| o( ❛ᴗ❛ )o | Happiness | This Kaomoji has little arms and looks almost happy enough to hug you. |
| ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ | Joy | This Kaomoji is certainly jumping for joy with his little arms. |
| (ﾉ´ з `)ノ | Love | This character uses Katakana symbols to give off the impression of reaching out |
| (*♡∀♡) | Love | This little Emoji literally has love in his eyes. |
| (⌒_⌒;) | Shy | You can almost see some sweat coming down this little guy’s face, he is so shy. |
| (*/ω＼) | Shy | Using some slashes here to create the effect of covering eyes. |
| (；⌣̀_⌣́) | Dissatisfaction | You can almost see some furrowed eyebrows here on the expression of this dissatisfied Kaomoji |
| (￢_￢;) | Dissatisfaction | This guy does not look amused. |
| ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡ | sadness | This Kaomoji is so upset you can see the visible stream of tears |
| (☆_@) | pain | Using the @ symbol here to emphasise a black eye effect |
| (×_×) | pain | This X X is the classic symbol for the faint or passing out look |
| (／。＼) | Fear | This little guy is covering his eyes in fear making use of the “/” |
| ┐(‘～`;)┌ | Confusion | Arms raised here in confusion, a great kaomoji to use when you are unsure of something |
| (￢_￢) | Doubt | Eyes squinted in doubt here |
| ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ | Surprise | Mouth and eyes wide open here |
Kaomoji Actions and Greetings
Kaomoji are not just used for emotions however; they can also represent specific actions as well. Whether it’s waving, hugging or whatever, you can express it through Kaomoji.
| (^０^)ノ | Waving | This cute little guy is waving his friend home |
| (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃ | Cuddles | This one looks very realistic and is ready for a big hug |
| (^_~) | Cheeky Wink | Now this is cheeky |
| m(_ _)m | Apologizing | Bowing down in classic Japanese style to apologise for something |
| ﾍ(･_| | Hiding | Hiding behind a wall, a very clever effect |
| ☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ | Running Away | This character uses the ミkatakana to produce a speed effect. |
| [(－－)]..zzZ | Sleeping | Zzz used to signify sleeping, he needs a good 8 hours. |
So guys there you have it, everything you need to know about the Japanese Kaomoji. Why not go ahead and try and use these in your text-based communication and spice up your messages? Or even better, try and make your own Kaomoji.
How to use kaomoji on your smartphone
Open Hiragana keyboard.
Tap Kaomoji icon.
You can install these Kaomoji (emoticons) on your PC!
| ٩(๑ơలơ)۶♡ | ꒰˘̩̩̩⌣˘̩̩̩๑꒱♡ | (ෆ ͒•∘̬• ͒)◞ |
| ✿♥‿♥✿ | ♡(㋭ ਊ ㋲)♡ | ໒( ♥ ◡ ♥ )७ |
| (♡´͈༝`͈)ฅ˒˒ | ( ˭̵̵̵̵͈́◡ु͂˭̵̵̵͈̀ )ˉ̞̭♡ | ♡ℒฺℴฺνℯฺ♡ |
| （●´∀｀）ノ♡ | (๑・ω-)～♥” | （♥￫ｏ￩♥） |
| (✿ ♥‿♥) | ฅ ̳͒•ˑ̫• ̳͒ฅ♡ | (｡・‧̫・｡).*＊♡ |
| (♡ˊ͈ ॢ꒳ ॢˋ͈)♪ | ♡+* Ɗɑɫë*+♡ | (͒ ॢ ›⚇‹ ॢ)͒୭♡ |
| (*°∀°)=3 | ´͈ ᵕ `͈ ♡°◌̊ | (/∇＼*)｡o○♡ |
| ( *¯ ³¯*)♡ | (ღ˘⌣˘)❛ั◡❛ัღ) | ( ′ॢ◡̶͂‵ ॢ )♡*. |
| ₍՞◌′ᵕ‵ू◌₎♡ | ٩(ó｡ò۶ ♡)))♬ | (ฅ’ω’ฅ)♥ |
| （人´∀`*） | ( •ॢ◡-ॢ)-♡ | ～(^з^)-♡ |
| ヾ(◍’౪`◍)ﾉﾞ♡ | (●´□`)♡ | (灬ºωº灬)♡ |
| ƪ(♥ﻬ♥)ʃ | ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡ | (‾̴̴͡͡▿•‾̴̴͡͡ʃƪ) |
| ♡(.◜ω◝.)♡ | (灬♥ω♥灬) |