These are the classic Hinamatsuri icons: an emperor and empress doll displayed for Girls’ Day in Japan, posed like the chillest power couple of the Heian era. On Apple devices, they sit side by side on a bright red stand with a gold folding screen behind them; the emperor wears a black kanmuri hat and holds a baton-like shaku, while the empress in pink holds a fan—both with tiny dot eyes and polite little smiles. Think delicate kimonos, perfect posture, and major “do not touch” museum energy. It’s tradition-packed, cute, and instantly recognizable if you’ve ever seen spring festival displays or gift-shop windows in Japan.
Online, people drop this emoji to signal Japanese culture vibes, Girls’ Day posts (March 3), or any aesthetic that screams “kawaii but classy.” It doubles as a duo marker—besties, couple goals, twinning fits, or the two leads of a show you’re shipping. Sarcastically, it says “we’re just here for decoration” or “smiling politely through the chaos.” It can also read as calm, ceremonial, and a little nostalgic—like your group chat dressed up and seated according to the seating chart.
Expect to see it paired with cherry blossoms, bento, origami, and tea-cup emojis when people curate a soft, springy feed. It pops up on travel posts from Tokyo, crafting reels, and cosplay captions, or as a flirty nudge: “we’d look cute on a shelf together.” In meme land, it’s shorthand for formal vibes, stillness, and photo-ready perfection with zero movement—statuesque but make it adorable.
Definition
The Japanese Dolls emoji is a symbol for the Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day or Doll's Day) in Japan. Ornamental dolls representing the Imperial Family in traditional attire. The dolls include the emperor, empress and the people that typically surround them (the royal court). Celebrated on March 3rd, Doll's Day is the day to pray for young girls and their well being. Doll's Day is not considered an official holiday of Japan.
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Emoji History The emoji code/ image log of changes.
This emoji was part of the proprietary / non-standardized emoji set first introduced by Japanese carriers like Softbank. These emojis became part of the Apple iPhone starting in iOS 2.2 as an unlockable feature on handsets sold in English speaking countries.
In iOS 5 / OSX 10.7, the underlying code that the Apple OS generates for this emoji was changed.
Japanese dolls of a couple dressed in traditional robes and hair fashion, they are kneeling down. Japanese Hinamatsuri. Girl power! iEmoji old name: Traditional Japanese Couple
Proposed Unicode Information & Notes
Unicode Category
Artifacts
Unicode Subcategory
Celebration Symbols
Names & Annotations
JAPANESE DOLLS Old name: GIRLS DOLL FESTIVAL * Japanese Hinamatsuri or girls' doll festival Temporary Notes: 雛祭り: Japanese Hinamatsuri
Symbol Information
U+1F38E proposed
Proposal Identifier
e-519
Character Mapping/Crosswalk Notes
DoCoMo
[ひな祭り]
KDDI
#477 雛祭り 「雛祭ri」 U+EAE4 SJIS-F3B8 JIS-7A3A
Softbank
#310 #old403 ひな祭り 「hina祭ri」 U+E438 SJIS-FB78
Emoji Character Encoding Data
Emoji Code Version
iOS 4 Code
UTF-8 Unicode Character(s)
UTF-8 Character Count
1
Character(s) In Input
AppleColorEmoji Font (available in OSX/iOS)
Decimal HTML Entity

Hexadecimal HTML Entity

Hex Code Point(s)
e438
Formal Unicode Notation
U+E438
Decimal Code Point(s)
58424
UTF-8 Hex (C Syntax)
0xEE 0x90 0xB8
UTF-8 Hex Bytes
EE 90 B8
UTF-8 Octal Bytes
356 220 270
UTF-16 Hex (C Syntax)
0xE438
UTF-16 Hex
e438
UTF-16 Dec
58424
UTF-32 Hex (C Syntax)
0x0000E438
UTF-32 Hex
E438
UTF-32 Dec
58424
Python Src
u"\uE438"
PHP Src
"\xee\x90\xb8"
C/C++/Java Src
"\uE438"
Emoji Code Version
iOS 5 - Current
UTF-8 Unicode Character(s)
🎎
UTF-8 Character Count
1
Character(s) In Input
AppleColorEmoji Font (available in OSX/iOS)
🎎
Decimal HTML Entity
🎎
Hexadecimal HTML Entity
🎎
Hex Code Point(s)
1f38e
Formal Unicode Notation
U+1F38E
Decimal Code Point(s)
127886
UTF-8 Hex (C Syntax)
0xF0 0x9F 0x8E 0x8E
UTF-8 Hex Bytes
F0 9F 8E 8E
UTF-8 Octal Bytes
360 237 216 216
UTF-16 Hex (C Syntax)
0xD83C 0xDF8E
UTF-16 Hex
d83cdf8e
UTF-16 Dec
55356 57230
UTF-32 Hex (C Syntax)
0x0001F38E
UTF-32 Hex
01F38E
UTF-32 Dec
127886
Python Src
u"\U0001F38E"
PHP Src
"\xf0\x9f\x8e\x8e"
C/C++/Java Src
"\uD83C\uDF8E"
Emoji Character Encoding Data (equivalent or similiar)
