What kaomoji are
Kaomoji are faces made from text characters. The name comes from Japanese: kao means face and moji means character. They became popular on Japanese internet forums and spread worldwide as people looked for more expressive faces than :) and :(.
Unlike Western emoticons, which you read sideways, kaomoji are read upright. The eyes and mouth face you directly, as in (＾▽＾). Arms, blushes, tears and props are built from symbols around the face, like the arms in ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ or the flipped table in (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻.
Kaomoji or emoji?
Emoji are little pictures, and each platform draws them in its own art style. Kaomoji are plain text, so they take on your font and colour and can show tiny details emoji can't, like a specific gesture or a mood somewhere between two emoji. Many people use both.
How to use them
- Tap any face above to copy it, then paste it into your message, bio, caption or comment.
- Use the search box to find a mood quickly. Try "cat", "love" or "shrug".
- Open a category to see the full set of faces for that mood.
Why some faces look different on your device
Kaomoji borrow characters from Japanese, Korean, Thai, Greek, Cyrillic and maths symbol sets. Every font draws them a little differently, so the same face can look narrower, wider or more detailed on another phone. If part of a face shows as an empty box, your device doesn't have that character, and choosing a simpler face usually fixes it.
Pair a kaomoji with aesthetic fonts for a soft bio, or browse text symbols for hearts, stars and dividers.
Kitty, sparkle and cross faces
Looking for a kitty, a sparkle or a cross emoticon? The cat kaomoji have the kitties, and you can add ✧ or ★ from the stars to any face for a sparkle. Cross-style eyes like (x_x) are on the scared and shocked page, and flirty or playful ones are under kiss and hug and wink.