What Are Kaomojis? Meaning, Kaomoji vs Emoji & Emoticon

Kaomojis are Japanese-style emoticons made from text characters, such as (◕‿◕) or (╥﹏╥). The name comes from Japanese 顔 (kao, face) and 文字 (moji, characters). Unlike sideways Western emoticons like :-), kaomoji are read upright and use symbols from many scripts. Kaomojis explains how to type them on every device.

Kaomoji vs emoji vs emoticon

How to type kaomoji on iPhone

1. Go to Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Add New Keyboard › Japanese › Kana.
2. In any text box, switch to the Kana keyboard with the globe key.
3. Tap the ^_^ key to open a list of kaomoji and pick one.

Or copy faces from this site and save your favorites under Settings › General › Keyboard › Text Replacement.

How to type kaomoji on Android

1. In Gboard, tap the emoji key.
2. Open the emoticons tab (shown as 🙂 ) to see text faces.
3. Tap a face to insert it.

Tab names can change between Gboard versions; we have not recorded the version tested.

How to type kaomoji on Windows

1. Press Windows + . (period) or Windows + ; to open the emoji panel.
2. Choose the kaomoji tab (;-) ).
3. Click a face to insert it. Works on Windows 10 and 11.

How to type kaomoji on Mac

macOS has no kaomoji tab. Add the Japanese input source and type かおもじ (kaomoji) to see face suggestions in the candidate list, or copy faces from this site.

Troubleshooting: why kaomoji show as boxes

A box (often called tofu) appears when the device has no font for one of the characters. Rare parts such as ꐦ or ᷄ are the usual cause. Fix it by updating the system, or choose a simpler face built from common characters like ◕ ‿ ω ▽.

We fill this table only after a dated test on a named device.

20 kaomoji to copy

Emoji that go with them

Suggest a meaning

Know another meaning for one of these faces? Email [email protected] with the face and where you saw it used. The Kaomojis editorial team checks it and adds it with the date.

FAQ

What is the difference between kaomoji and emoticons?

Kaomoji are Japanese-style faces read upright and built from many characters, like (◕‿◕). Western emoticons are read sideways and use basic punctuation, like :-).

What does 💦 💦 💦 💦 mean?

Usually sweat or splashing water, or nervousness when it follows a kaomoji. Repeated 💦 is also used as innuendo in some online slang, so read the context.

Can you give me some examples of Kaomojis?

Yes: (◕‿◕) for happy, (╥﹏╥) for sad, (｡♥‿♥｡) for love and (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ for a table flip. The list above has 20 to copy.

More faces in the Kaomojis dictionary. Kaomojis is independent and not connected to any app, keyboard or Japanese brand.

Updated 8 October 2026 · Kaomojis Editorial Team