Before emojis became popular around the world, Japan had another creative way to express feelings online.
They were called kaomoji—literally, “face characters.”
Feelings Made from Text (^_^)
Unlike many Western smileys such as 🙂 or 🙁, Japanese kaomoji often focus on the eyes.
(^_^)
(T_T)
(>_<)
A few simple symbols can show happiness, sadness, surprise, or embarrassment.
Born in the Digital Age
As computers and mobile phones became common, people wanted to add emotions to their messages.
Kaomoji became a fun and easy solution.
Many people even created their own original faces to match different situations.
A Bridge to Emojis
Today, emojis are used all over the world.
Still, kaomoji remain popular in Japan and across the internet.
In a way, they are a small piece of digital culture that helped people express feelings without using many words.
Perhaps they even helped prepare the way for today’s emoji communication.
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