This is the onigiri icon: a tidy triangle of white rice hugging a little nori jacket, the portable comfort food of Japan. People drop it when they’re craving a cozy carb, flexing a bento lunch, or signaling “snack o’clock” without typing a whole sentence. It’s also the go-to for anime/Ghibli-food vibes and those “I want something wholesome but not a salad” moments.
On Apple/iOS, the rice ball shows up as a soft white triangle with rounded corners and a neat dark green-black seaweed rectangle centered near the bottom. The texture looks pillowy and clean, with gentle shading and a subtle gray shadow that gives it a slight 3D pop. It’s front-facing, minimal, and signless—no filling revealed—so it reads as classic, pristine onigiri at a glance.
Online, it doubles as a shorthand for bento culture, conbini runs, and meal-prep TikToks with tiny soy-sauce bottles. People use it ironically when someone calls every Japanese food “sushi,” or flirtatiously as in “I’ll make you onigiri <3.” It can soft-launch your hangry mood (“feed me a triangle”) or serve as a wholesome check-in emoji after the gym. In group chats, it’s the polite way of saying “I’m bringing snacks,” and on timelines it pairs well with cozy aesthetics, late-night study grinds, and weekend picnic plans.
Definition
Although this might look like it, this is not a Hershey's kiss wrapped in silver foil. It is a white rice ball wrapped in a piece of nori (edible seaweed). Also called onigiri. Very popular in 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.
Emoji General Information
Twitter Emoji Popularity (Rank)
309 of 2393
Apple/iOS Picture
Google Android Picture
Google Hangouts Picture
Twitter.com Picture
LG Emoji Picture
Samsung Emoji Picture
Phantom Open Emoji Picture
ASCII Conversion
"Short Code" Name
:rice_ball:
Keywords
Rice, Ball, White, Nori, Seaweed, Japanese
Unicode Category Information
Unicode Category
Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs
Unicode Range
1F300–1F5FF
Unicode Subcategory
Food Symbols
Editorial Comment
A Hershey's kiss wrapped in silver with a white box in front of it.
