Kaomoji[a] are Japanese emoticons that use combinations of text characters to represent facial expressions and emotions. They first appeared in Japan during the 1980s, offering a distinctive way to convey tone and mood in digital communication. Common examples include:
(^ω^) – expresses happiness or excitement ( ͡o╭╮ ͡o) – conveys sadness or disappointmentKaomoji developed independently around the same time that sideways emoticons (or smileys) began appearing in the United States, such as:
:) or :-) – happy :( or :-( – unhappyUnlike Western emoticons, which are typically viewed sideways, kaomoji are meant to be read upright and often make use of a wider variety of characters. They are considered a precursor to modern emoji, which also originated in Japan.
History[edit]Users from Japan popularized a style of emoticons[a][1] that can be understood without tilting one's head.[2] This style arose on ASCII NET, an early Japanese online service, in the 1980s.[3][4] They often include Japanese typography in addition to ASCII characters,[2] and in contrast to Western-style emoticons, tend to emphasize the eyes, rather than the mouth.[5]
Wakabayashi Yasushi is credited with inventing the original kaomoji (^_^) in 1986.[5] Similar-looking emoticons were used on the Byte Information Exchange (BIX) around the same time.[6] Whereas Western emoticons were first used by US computer scientists, kaomoji were most commonly used by young girls and fans of Japanese comics (manga). Linguist Ilaria Moschini suggests this is partly due to the kawaii ('cuteness') aesthetic of kaomoji.[5] These emoticons are usually found in a format similar to (*_*). The asterisks indicate the eyes; the central character, commonly an underscore, the mouth; and the parentheses, the outline of the face.
Different emotions can be expressed by changing the character representing the eyes: for example, "T" can be used to express crying or sadness: (T_T). T_T may also be used to mean "unimpressed". The emphasis on the eyes in this style is reflected in the common usage of emoticons that use only the eyes, e.g. ^^. Looks of stress are represented by the likes of (x_x), while (-_-;) is a generic emoticon for nervousness, the semicolon representing an anxiety-induced sweat drop (discussed further below). /// can indicate embarrassment by symbolizing blushing, resembling the lines drawn on cheeks in manga.[7] Characters like hyphens or periods can replace the underscore; the period is often used for a smaller, "cuter" mouth, or to represent a nose, e.g. (^.^). Alternatively, the mouth/nose can be left out entirely, e.g. (^^).
Parentheses are sometimes replaced with braces or square brackets, e.g. {^_^} or [o_0]. Many times, the parentheses are left out completely, e.g. ^^, ^-^, >.