The ultimate guide to understanding Japanese Kaomoji
30 Pics + Text

Kaomoji Emoticons
In Japan hardly any email or IM message get written which doesn’t contain some form of smileys or emoticons.
While emoji (graphical presentations of emoticons) are probably most known, “kaomoji” (from “kao” = face, “moji” = character) are the Japanese version of Western emoticons and there are practically endless variations available. The biggest difference to the Western counterpart is probably that they are read horizontally and you don’t need to turn your head to understand them, for example the Western emoticon for “Happy” looks like this :-) while the Japanese version looks like this (^_^).

Smiling

Snobbish, arrogant

Speaking apathetically

Happy, laughing

Apologizing, being sorry or asking for a favor

Cheeky or slightly upset

Scared, troubled or shocked

Cheerful happy, as in “…yes!!!”

Grumpy, annoyed

Blushing of happyness

Annoyed, troubled

Angry, hatred

Shocked, disappointed

Worried, feeling lost, insecure about something

Puzzled, confused

Apathetic, dissatisfied, arrogant

Sad, starting to cry

Sleeping or sleepy

Sleepy or tired

Shocked

“Please…!” as in “Please buy me the golden 44 carat ring!”

Kissing, happy

Embarrassed

Winking

Joyful

Burst into laughing

To make an excuse, to calm people down or a sad goodbye

Joyful, Happy

Cheeky and happy

Crying