What is a kaomoji?

Kaomoji is a unique way of expressing emotions using characters, symbols, and various alphanumeric combinations. Unlike traditional emojis and emoticons that are straightforward to understand, kaomoji is a more complex language that can convey a wide range of feelings.

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From a romantic face sending a heart to an enraged kaomoji flipping a table, the possibilities are endless. This informal and creative communication has become increasingly popular in the digital age.

Some popular kaomoji include (￣▽￣), which represents a smiling face, and （╹◡╹）♡, which can be interpreted as a person in love. On the other hand, the kaomoji (；一_一) portrays sadness or disappointment, among other emotions.

Origin of the Kaomojis?

Kaomoji had its roots in 1990s Japan when the internet was still a relatively new technology. The word “kaomoji” is derived from the Japanese words for “face” (kao) and “writing” (moji), meaning “face word” when combined.

Without video conferencing applications or graphic emojis, the Japanese created this creative way of expressing emotions through texts, symbols, and alphanumeric characters. Since you couldn’t see the person’s face on the other side of the screen, kaomoji became a means of conveying a wide range of emotions with more detail and creativity than traditional emoticons or emojis.

Kaomojis have gained widespread popularity and have become an integral part of Japanese culture since their inception in the 1990s. These creative representations of emotions through symbols and characters have inspired anime and manga enthusiasts, leading to their global appeal.

Kaomojis were invented to express emotions more in detail and elaborately than traditional emojis or emoticons. This was especially useful during the early days of the Internet when videoconferencing applications were not yet available. Due to their success in Japan, kaomoji are now used not only on messaging platforms but also in emails, social networks, forums, chat rooms, and online games.

How to use a kaomoji

There are numerous methods to generate or use pre-made kaomoji in contrast to common emoticons that feature vertical faces and focus on mouth expressions, kaomoji centers on conveying emotions through facial expressions, with the face orientation being horizontal.

To form your unique face, you must select between parentheses ( ), square brackets [ ], and braces { } to craft the outline of the face. Within it, you have to insert unique symbols to construct eyes, mouth, nose, marks, and other elements, using asterisks, dots, special symbols, and other creative ideas.

Keyboards and apps dedicated to the Japanese language provide shortcuts to pre-made kaomojis, eliminating the need to create them from scratch.

Use Kaomoji on the PC / Laptop

Windows 10 and above offer a native kaomoji keyboard, which can be triggered from any screen.

1. Press the Windows key + . (dot key);
2. In the window that opened, click on the kaomoji tab;
3. Click on the desired kaomoji to insert it.

Use Kaomoji in the browser.

1. Install the Kaomoji Clipboard extension in Google Chrome.
2. Click on the extension icon in the upper right corner;
3. Select the Kaomoji Clipboard extension;
4. Select the desired kaomoji and copy using the shortcut Ctrl + C;
5. Paste the kaomoji using the shortcut Ctrl + V.

Use Kaomoji on mobile

1. Download the Kaomoji ☆ Japanese Emoticons app (Android | iOS);
2. On the app’s home screen, select the desired kaomoji category;
3. Within it, tap a subcategory;
4. Tap the kaomoji you want to use to copy it;
5. Paste where you want.

You can also save kaomoji’s created by you in the app:

1. On the home screen in the app, tap the “+” icon;
2. Create the desired kaomoji in the typing field;
3. Tap the “+” button to add the creation;
4. Tap the file icon in the upper right corner;
5. Tap the kaomoji you created to copy;
6. Paste where you want.

Most popular kaomojis

Here are some examples of popular kaomojis divided into categories based on the emotions they convey:

Happiness

(* ^ ω ^) (´ ∀ ` *) ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶ ヽ(^◇^*)/ ＼(^ω^＼) (o^▽^o) (´｡• ω •｡`) (o･ω･o)

(≧▽≦) (´• ω •`) (＾▽＾) (*^‿^*) (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ (◕‿◕) (☆▽☆) (⌒‿⌒)

<(￣︶￣)> ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ (＠＾◡＾) (*´▽`*)ヽ(o＾▽＾o)ノ (✯◡✯) (✿◠‿◠) ≧◡≦ (◕‿◕✿)

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ (◠﹏◠✿) (`･ ω ･ ´) ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶ o( ❛ᴗ❛ )o (o˘◡˘o) (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b ( „• ᴗ •„) (*￣▽￣)b

＼(￣▽￣)／ (★ω★)/

Love

(ﾉ´ з `)ノ ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡ (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) (♡°▽°♡) ヽ(♡‿♡)ノ Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→ ♡ (´ ε ` )♡ (❤ω❤) ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡ ♡( ◡‿◡ ) (´ ω `♡) (*¯ ³¯*)♡ (─‿‿─)♡ ( ˘⌣˘ )♡(˘⌣˘ ) (´• ω •`) ♡ (´♡‿♡`) ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ (´｡• ω •｡`) ♡ (ﾉ´ з `)ノ ( ♡μ_μ) (/^-^(^ ^*)/ ♡ (´♡‿♡`) (°◡°♡) (◕‿◕)♡ (♡-_-♡) (っ˘з(˘⌣˘ ) ♡ (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡ ♡ (￣З￣) (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

Sadness

(μ_μ) (｡╯︵╰｡) (个_个) ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡ o(TヘTo) o(〒﹏〒)o (╥﹏╥) (╥_╥ ) ( ; ω ; ) (｡T ω T｡) (ಥ﹏ಥ) ｡ﾟ･ (>﹏<) ･ﾟ｡ (╯_╰) (T_T) (╯︵╰,) (っ˘̩╭╮˘ ̩)っ (ノ_<、) (´-ω-`) (-_-) .｡･ﾟﾟ･(＞_＜)･ﾟﾟ･｡. (ಡ‸ಡ) (｡•́︿•̀｡) (ﾉД`) 。゜゜(´Ｏ`) ゜゜。

Anger

(＃`Д´) ヽ(`⌒´メ)ノ ┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐ ٩(╬ʘ益ʘ╬)۶ ( ` ω ´ ) 凸(`△´＃) 凸( ` ﾛ´ )凸 ((╬◣﹏◢)) ヽ( `д´*)ノ (ノ°益°)ノ ↑_(ΦwΦ)Ψ (╬ Ò﹏Ó) (҂` ﾛ ´)凸 (҂ `з´ ) ψ(▼へ▼メ)～→ (ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ ヾ(`ヘ´)ﾉﾞ (`皿´＃) ヽ( `д´*)ノ (°ㅂ°╬) (╬`益´ ) (‡▼益▼) ψ( ` ∇ ´ )ψ (≖､≖╬)

Fear

Σ(°△°|||) 〜(＞＜)〜 (;;;*_*)︴〣( ºΔº )〣＼(º □ º l|l)/ ＼(〇_ｏ)／(／。＼ ) (・人・) ▓▒░(°◡°)░▒▓ (/_＼) {{ (>_<) }} (″ロ゛)

Confusion

(•ิ_•ิ)? (・_・ヾ ┐(‘～`;)┌ (-_-;)・・・(￣～￣;) ┐(￣ヘ￣;)┌ (¯ . ¯;) σ(￣、￣〃) (・・ ) ? ლ(¯ロ¯”ლ) (¯ . ¯٥) ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)

Shame

(*/▽＼*) ( ◡‿◡ *) (//▽//) (*μ_μ) (*ﾉ∀`*) (￣▽￣*)ゞ (ノ*°▽°*) (*^. ^*) (o^ ^o) (*/。＼) (o-_-o) (⌒_⌒;)

Surprise

ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ (□_□) ( : ౦ ‸ ౦ : ) (OO) w(°ｏ°)w (o_O) ! (⊙_⊙) (°ロ°) !

dissatisfaction

(；⌣̀_⌣́) (￢_￢;) (︶︹︺) (＞﹏＜) (；￣Д￣) (＞ｍ＜) (￣ヘ￣) (–_–) (￣□￣ 」) (」°ロ°)」<(￣ ﹌ ￣)> 凸(￣ヘ￣) (＃￣0￣) (〃＞＿＜;〃) (⇀‸↼‶) ヾ( ￣O￣)ツ o (>< )o (」＞＜)」 (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ (눈_눈) (＃＞＜) (￣ ￣|||) (＃￣ω￣) (」＞＜)」