Kaomoji

Kaomoji on a Japanese NTT Docomo mobile phone
A Kaomoji painting in Japan

Kaomoji was invented in the 1980s as a way of portraying facial expressions using text characters in Japan. It was independent of the emoticon movement started by Scott Fahlman in the United States in the same decade. Kaomojis are most commonly used as emoticons or emojis in Japan.