Emoticons (顔文字 (かおもじ, "Kaomoji" or "Emoji" are facial expressions pictorially represented by punctuation and letters to express the mood the writer is currently in. The term "emoticon" blends the words emotion and icon. Emoticons are frequently used in text messages on cellphones, in emails and on the internet fora, where they are often rendered as smiley graphics (like on the Japan Forum). In the Japanese language, they are referred to as emoji or rather kaomoji (かおもじ). Usually, they consist of surprisingly complex combinations due to the usage of double-byte characters. Please find a selection of universal emoji below.

This selection can also be downloaded here as a text file.

Keitai emoticons


Japanese mobile phone providers offer a wide range of emoticons and graphical images on their devices. iPhone emoji use the same character codes as Softbank emoji but are slightly modified with an iPhone replacing the generic clamshell mobile and no emoji animation.

Emoji Softbank iPhone 2


Apple offers 468 pictographs on iPhone, iTouch and iPad.