What 🈳 means
It means empty, vacant, available.
The emoji is a rounded square, usually blue or blue-green as of 2026, with the character 空 in white. 空 is a kanji, one of the Chinese-origin characters used in Japanese writing, and here it means “empty”. Anyone who reads Japanese or Chinese sees the meaning at once; anyone else sees an attractive but unreadable button, which is why this page exists.
It is one of a set of squared-kanji emoji, all taken from the sign language of Japanese streets and shops. Its partner is 🈵, the character 満 (“full”, no vacancy). Together they are the on/off pair you see on car parks, hotels and cinemas: 空 when there is room, 満 when there is none.
Where would you see 空 in Japan?
On taxis, car parks and hotels, where it means “free”.
The most famous place is the taxi. A free Japanese taxi shows the word 空車 (kūsha, “empty car”) in red on its dashboard sign; a hired one shows 賃走 or 実車. Car park entrances display 空 when spaces are left and 満 when the lot is full. Hotels and inns write 空室 (vacant rooms), trains and theatres 空席 (vacant seats). Even a free seat on a bench can be 空いています, “it's empty”.
So when a Japanese speaker sends 🈳, they are using the same shorthand: this slot, seat or place is open. In a chat between people who do not read kanji, treat it as a decorative “free / open” stamp and ask what is free if it matters.
Neutral and sign-like, the tone of a notice board; no warmth, flirtation or sarcasm attached.
Don't mix it up with 🈵, which means full; sending the wrong tile reverses your message.
What it means when someone sends it to you
4 readingsDon't confuse it with
4Combination ideas
3Worth knowing
- The shortcode :u7a7a: is not a word: 7A7A is the Unicode number of the kanji 空, so the code simply says “the 空 button”.
- The same character 空 read sora means “sky” in Japanese, and it appears in names and words like 空港 (airport, literally “sky harbour”).
Questions people ask
3Is 🈳 Japanese or Chinese?
Both can read it. The character 空 exists in Chinese and Japanese and means empty in each, but the emoji copies Japanese signage, which is why Unicode calls it the Japanese vacancy button.
Does 🈳 mean sky?
Not as an emoji. The kanji 空 does mean sky when read sora, but the button copies the sign meaning “empty, available”. Someone could use it for sky as a pun, but that is not its standard meaning.
Why is it blue?
Designers of the Japanese squared-kanji emoji gave each a colour; the “vacancy” square is blue on most platforms as of 2026, while its opposite 🈵 is often drawn in a similar colour, so read the character, not the colour.
How to type 🈳
:u7a7a:the common shortcode; support varies by platform.🈳Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.