Kaomoji

(＾▽＾) Japanese emoticons, also known as "kaomoji," are comprised of Japanese characters and are used to express emotion in texts. The word kaomoji comes from two Kanji words, "kao," which means face and "moji," which means character. This style started in the late 1980s.

Unlike emoticons such as :-) kaomoji can be read without tilting one's head to the left; rather, they are read horizontally, such as ( • ‿ • ). Emotions can be expressed by changing how the eyes, mouth, and face are represented. For example, eyes can be represented as ^_^ for joy, O_o for confusion or -_- for shrug or a whatever feeling. Arms and hands can even be added. For example, ᕙ( •̀ ‿ •́ )ᕗ has flexing arms, while ( •̀ ‿ •́ ) does not.