Kaomoji (顔文字, "face characters") are Japanese emoticons drawn with text. Western emoticons such as :-) are read sideways, but kaomoji are upright and use the eyes to show feeling, like (^_^) for happy or (T_T) for crying. They mix Japanese characters, Greek and Cyrillic letters, box-drawing lines and symbols, which is why they can show anything from a shrug to a flipped table.
Kaomoji, emoji and emoticons
Emoticons are simple sideways faces made of punctuation: :) ;) :D.
Kaomoji are upright text faces with far more detail: ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ, (｡♥‿♥｡), ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Emoji are pictures drawn by your phone or computer, so they look different on each device. Kaomoji are plain text, so they look the same wherever the font supports the characters.
How to type kaomoji
Copy from this page. Click any kaomoji to copy it, then paste with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V, or long-press and Paste on a phone. Your last copies stay under Recently copied.
Windows 10 and 11: press Windows key + . (period) to open the emoji panel, then choose the kaomoji tab.
iPhone: add the Japanese Kana keyboard in Settings, General, Keyboard; its ^_^ key opens a list of kaomoji.
Android with Gboard: open the emoji panel and switch to the emoticons tab.
Famous kaomoji and what they mean
Kaomoji
Name
Used for
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Shrug
"I don't know" or "whatever"
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Table flip
Frustration or rage, often as a joke
┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)
Table put back
Calming down after a table flip
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Lenny face
Smug, cheeky or suggestive
(ಠ_ಠ)
Look of disapproval
Silent judgement
ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ
Bear
Cute or friendly
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Hug
Sending a hug
ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
Flex
Strength, motivation, gym
Using kaomoji in bios, Discord and games
Kaomoji are plain Unicode text, so they work in Instagram and TikTok bios, Discord names and messages, Twitch chat, game names and documents. A few things to check: some characters take more than one space in character limits, very rare symbols can appear as empty boxes on older devices or fonts, and some games and apps filter certain symbols out of usernames. Simple faces made of common characters, such as (◕‿◕) or (=^･ω･^=), display almost everywhere.
Frequently asked questions
How do I copy a kaomoji?
Click or tap it. It is copied to your clipboard at once; paste it anywhere with Ctrl+V, Cmd+V or a long press.
What does ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ mean?
It is the shrug kaomoji. It means "I don't know", "oh well" or "whatever".
Are kaomoji the same as emoji?
No. Emoji are pictures drawn by your device; kaomoji are faces made from ordinary text characters, so they look the same across devices.
Why do some kaomoji show as boxes?
The device or app font does not include one of the characters. Choose a kaomoji made of more common characters, or update the app.
Can I use kaomoji in my Discord or Instagram name?
Usually yes. They are plain text, though long kaomoji count toward character limits and a few apps block some symbols.