Arms
づ っ ﾉ ヾ ⊂ つ ◝ ◜
The single biggest kawaii marker. A face with arms is doing something; a face without them is only expressing.
Cute, decorated all the way up
Kawaii Kaomoji
Kawaii simply means cute in Japanese, so there is no line between the two words. There is a real line between two styles, though, and this page collects the second one: faces that are decorated, not merely small. Hearts, sparkle trails, outstretched arms and frames all belong here.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Quick answer
Which one should you use?
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ and (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ are the two most recognisable kawaii kaomoji. Both take an ordinary cute face and add something around it — arms reaching out, or a trail of sparkles being thrown. If you want the plain, undecorated version of this look, the cute kaomoji collection is the one to use; kawaii is what you get when the decoration is the point.
Copy and paste
20 kawaii kaomoji
Every face is plain text. Tap one to copy it, then paste it wherever you are typing — it travels as ordinary characters, not as an image.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Kawaii hug
The long ‿‿ mouth and both arms out — the definitive one.
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Throwing sparkles
The most copied kawaii face of all.
⋆｡°✩(◡‿◡)✩°｡⋆
Fully decorated
Stars, dots and degree marks framing a plain smile.
(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ♡
Waving heart
A raised hand offering a heart.
｡ﾟ(*´◡`*)ﾟ｡
Sparkle framed
The ｡ﾟ pairs read as glints either side.
(◕‿◕)♡
Heart aside
The simplest decorated face here.
(っ˘▽˘)っ ✿
Offering a flower
Arms out with a blossom held forward.
ヾ(♡ᴗ♡)ﾉ
Excited and smitten
Both hands waving with hearts for eyes.
(◍ ´ᵕ` ◍)
Padded sweet
Circled cheeks with soft accents between.
⁽⁽◝( ˙ ᵕ ˙ )◜⁾⁾
Dancing
Superscript brackets read as motion either side.
(♡˃ ᵕ ˂♡)
Squeezed with hearts
Hearts beside the eyes instead of replacing them.
✧*｡ﾟ(◕ᴗ◕)ﾟ｡*✧
Star framed
Symmetrical sparkle on both sides.
(*ᴗ ᴗ*)♡
Content with heart
Closed eyes, blush, and a heart aside.
⊂(◉‿◉)つ
Grabby
Arms drawn as brackets closing inward.
(ᐢ ᵕ ᐢ)♡
Eared and fond
Canadian syllabics ears with a heart.
｡ﾟ+.(◕‿◕)｡ﾟ+.
Plus-sparkle frame
Plus signs read as small twinkles.
(o´▽`o)ﾉ♡
Waving fondly
Round cheeks, raised hand, heart.
✿*ﾟ(◕ᴗ◕)ﾟ*✿
Flower framed
Blossoms outside with glints inside.
(๑˃ᴗ˂)♡
Bright with heart
Thai cheeks with a heart to the right.
♡+*(◕‿◕)*+♡
Heart framed
Hearts and asterisks forming a symmetrical border.
How they are built
The parts these faces are made of
Kaomoji are assembled rather than drawn. Once you can see the components, you can adjust any face on this page instead of hunting for a different one.
Decoration
♡ ✧ ✿ ★ ｡ﾟ +
Placed outside the brackets. One mark is an accent, a symmetrical pair is a frame.
Sparkle trails
*:･ﾟ✧ ⋆｡°✩ ｡ﾟ+.
Multi-character strings trailing off one side. They imply motion, which is why the throwing faces use them.
Padding
๑ ◍ ｡ * ᐢ
Rounded characters just inside the brackets. They make the face read as young and soft.
Before you paste
Getting them to arrive intact
Paste as plain text
Markdown and rich-text editors treat backslashes, underscores and asterisks as formatting. Kawaii faces are the most affected on this site, because so many of them use asterisks as decoration.
Asterisks are the weak point
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ contains an asterisk, and a pair of them turns the text between into bold or italic. If a sparkle trail vanishes and the following words change weight, that is the cause.
Decoration outside, face inside
Keep the brackets holding a readable face and let the ornament sit outside them. Once decoration creeps inside, the expression stops being legible and the whole thing turns into a pattern.
Read more
Faces with a full write-up
Some of these have their own page covering where the face came from and how its meaning has shifted.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Happy Hug Kaomoji
The classic grinning hug face with reaching arms.
Read the entry\(≧▽≦)/
Excited Kaomoji
Both arms up with squinting delight.
Read the entryฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Cat Kaomoji
A round cat face with two raised paws either side.
Read the entry(♡°▽°♡)
Love Kaomoji
Heart-shaped eyes framing a wide, delighted smile.
Read the entry
Questions
Kawaii Kaomoji FAQ
What does kawaii mean?
Kawaii (かわいい) is simply the Japanese word for cute. A kawaii kaomoji and a cute kaomoji are the same idea named in two languages, which is why searches for both return overlapping results.
What is the difference between kawaii and cute kaomoji?
Nothing in the words, but there is a difference in style. Plain cute faces stay small and undecorated — (◕‿◕), (´･ω･`). Kawaii as a look adds things around the face: arms reaching out, hearts, sparkle trails, frames. This page collects the decorated style; the cute collection covers the minimal one.
What is the most famous kawaii kaomoji?
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ — a smiling face throwing a trail of sparkles. It spread far beyond Japanese-language sites and is used as a reaction to anything delightful, in much the same way ✨ is.
How do you make a kawaii kaomoji?
Start with a plain cute face, then add one thing outside the brackets. Arms (づ, ﾉ, ⊂) make it act; a heart or blossom makes it fond; a sparkle trail such as *:･ﾟ✧ makes it celebratory. Adding all three at once is usually where it stops being readable.
Keep exploring