{{Short description|Old Japanese custom of teeth blackening}} {{italic title}} [[File:Vrouw, de handen warmend bij een hibachi 32 moderne types (serietitel) Imayo sanjuniso (serietitel op object), RP-P-2008-245.jpg|thumb|''Teeth blackening''. {{Transliteration|ja|Nishiki-e}} by Utagawa Kunisada, 1820, from the series ''Mirrors of the modern boudoir''.]]
{{Nihongo|'''''Ohaguro'''''|お歯黒|lead=yes|extra={{IPA|ja|ohaɡɯɾo|pron}}, {{lit|black teeth}}}} is the name given in Japan to the custom of blackening one's teeth with a solution of iron filings and vinegar. It was especially popular between the Heian and Edo periods, from the 10th century<ref name="Garis">{{Cite book |last1=De Garis |first1=Frederic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUm0AAAAQBAJ&dq=tooth+blackening+japan&pg=PA33 |title=We Japanese |last2=Sakai |first2=Atsuharu |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1136183676 |pages=33}}</ref><ref name="Freeman">{{Cite book |last=Freeman-Mitford |first=Bertram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqBYSCzYjWMC&q=teeth&pg=PA88 |title=Tales of Old Japan |publisher=Digireads.com Publishing |year=2010 |pages=203 |isbn=9781420937527 |orig-date=1871 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213035442/http://books.google.es/books?id=kqBYSCzYjWMC&pg=PA88&dq=mitford+tales+old+japan&hl=es&sa=X&ei=8BuGVPOkGY3hatf5gfgC&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=teeth&f=false |archive-date=13 December 2014}}</ref> until the late 19th century, but the opening of the country to Western customs during the Meiji period led to its gradual disappearance. It was a tradition practiced mainly by married women and some men, almost always members of the aristocracy and samurai. In addition to Japanese society's preference for black teeth, it was also considered beneficial to health, as it prevented tooth decay by acting as a dental sealant.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Arthur H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipQmSriMF9sC |title=Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Human Health |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2003 |isbn=0471628824 |pages=448 |chapter=12}}</ref> The practice of dyeing one's teeth black was also a known and widespread practice in southeastern China and Southeast Asia, although with different recipes.
== Etymology == [[File:Geisha Blackening Teeth at 1-00 p.m. LACMA M.84.31.68.jpg|thumb|''Geisha blackening her teeth at 1:00 p.m.''. Ukiyo-e by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, number 13 in the series ''24 hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi''.]] The word {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} is composed of the honorific prefix {{nihongo||お|o-}}, the term {{nihongo3|'tooth'|歯|ha}}, and the term {{nihongo3|'black'|黒|kuro}}.<ref name="KDJ"><span class="book">'''1988''', <cite>{{lang|ja|国語大辞典（新装版）}} (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition)</cite> (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan</span></ref> Due to a phonological process called {{transliteration|ja|rendaku}}, the "k" in ''kuro'' voices to become a "g" sound, and the compound term is pronounced {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}}, not {{transliteration|ja|*ohakuro}}.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Rein |first=Johannes Justus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YtePXGmDI70C&q=teeth&pg=PA181 |title=The Industries of Japan: Together with an Account of Its Agriculture, Forestry, Arts and Commerce |publisher=Curzon Press |year=1995 |isbn=0700703519 |pages=181 |orig-date=1889}}</ref>
The term ''ohaguro'' arose among upper-class women in the early Edo period as part of ''nyōbō kotoba'' or "women's language", as a shift from the much-older term {{nihongo3|'tooth blackening'|歯黒め|hagurome}}.<ref name="KDJ"/> {{transliteration|ja|Ohaguro}} is normally spelled {{lang|ja|お歯黒}}, but there is an alternative spelling {{lang|ja|鉄漿}} where the kanji literally mean "iron juice",<ref name=":0">Wagatsuma, 1967, p. 436</ref> alluding to the liquid used in the process. This alternative spelling also has a separate pronunciation, ''tesshō''. Synonyms include {{nihongo3|'nutgall water'|五倍子水|fushimizu|so called for the tannins extracted from the galls for use in this mixture}}, {{nihongo3|literally 'metal + putting on'|鉄漿付け|kanetsuke}}, {{nihongo3|literally 'putting on + metal'|つけがね|tsukegane}}, and {{nihongo3|'tooth blackening'|歯黒め|hagurome}}.<ref name="KDJ"/><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Nussbaum |first=Louis-Frédéric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&dq=kanetsuke&pg=PA153 |title=Japan Encyclopedia |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0674017536 |pages=152–153 |orig-date=1996}}</ref>
== Origin and meaning == {{transliteration|ja|Ohaguro}} existed in Japan in one form or another for hundreds of years, and was considered a symbol of beauty for much of this time. Objects with a deep black color, such as those lacquered to a glossy black, were considered to be of great beauty, and many shades of black were used in dyeing kimono, with different shades holding different meanings.
The reasons for the invention of {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} are still unclear:<ref name="Garis" /> simple dental care has been proposed, as well as the differentiation between humans and demons depicted with large white fangs,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kramer |first=Eric Mark |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9-yOGSyKrYC&dq=ohaguro+demons&pg=PA53 |title=The Emerging Monoculture: Assimilation and the "model Minority" |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=0275973123 |pages=53 |chapter=Overview of Japanese Cosmetics and a History of Japanese Beauty to the Edo Period}}</ref> just as in other Southeast Asian cultures; the fact that teeth are the only visible part of the skeleton, which links them to death and makes them taboo;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stevenson |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSzrAAAAMAAJ&q=ohaguro+skeleton |title=Yoshitoshi's Women: The Woodblock-print Series Fūzoku Sanjūnisō |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1995 |isbn=0295974311 |pages=26 |quote=The teeth that bite the cloth have been blackened with a dye called ohaguro, made from iron filings. Blackened teeth were considered attractive, possibly because teeth are a visible part of the skeleton which as a symbol of death was regarded...}}</ref> or the Japanese and other Far Eastern cultures holding a preference for concealing the public display of feelings with the combination of {{transliteration|ja|oshiroi}} (white makeup), the complete plucking of the eyebrows, and their repainting – a practice known as {{nihongo|hikimayu|引眉|hikimayu}} – and the dyeing of teeth creating a masklike appearance.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9dcr4U0yBRAC&dq=ohaguro&pg=PA288 |title=Faces Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Human Face |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2012 |isbn=978-1598846171 |pages=288–289 |chapter=Teeth Painting}}</ref> The current Japanese female custom of covering the mouth when smiling derives to a greater or lesser degree from this consideration and from the preference until the 19th century for black-toothed rather than white mouths.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Van Steenberghe |first1=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8g5kVehRLYC&dq=cover+mouth+japan+ohaguro&pg=PA226 |title=Bad Breath: A Multidisciplinary Approach |last2=Rosenberg |first2=Mel |publisher=Leuven University Press |year=1996 |isbn=9061867797 |pages=226}}</ref>
Among the samurai, its origin is associated with the idea of loyalty expressed by the color black.{{efn|Freeman-Mitford mentions a supposed origin of male use in which a {{transliteration|ja|sadaijin}} of the 12th century began to make up in the manner of women because of his desire to appear more feminine. Eventually it would have spread through the court and from there to the followers of the Hōjō clan, whose leaders were the {{transliteration|ja|shikken}} of the Kamakura shogunate, as a sign of loyalty.}} When a samurai dyed his teeth black, it reflected his decision not to serve another lord for the rest of his life,<ref>{{cite book |last=Geissberger |first=Marc |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gSINAAAAQBAJ&dq=ohaguro+samurai+loyalty&pg=PA5 |title=Esthetic Dentistry in Clinical Practice |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-1118694930 |editor= |pages=5 |chapter=Chapter 1: Introduction to Concepts in Esthetic Dentistry}}</ref> and, from the time of the {{transliteration|ja|shikken}} or regents of the {{transliteration|ja|shōgun}}, the nobles applied it with similar regard for loyalty.<ref name=":0" />
=== History === [[File:Yamanba_and_kintaro_sakazuki.jpg|thumb|335x335px|Ukiyo-e of Yama-uba caring for Kintarō in which her dark teeth are distinguishable]] The first written references in Japan to {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} appear in the 11th century ''Tale of Genji''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shikibu |first=Murasaki |title=The Tale of Genji |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=2001 |isbn=0-14-243714-X |pages=130 |chapter=6 |quote=As the girl's grandmother was a very conservative woman, she didn't pluck her eyebrows or dye her teeth black....}}</ref> and in the story {{transliteration|ja|Mushi Mezuru Himegimi}}, in English ''The Lady Who Loved Insects'', from the 12th century, included in the {{transliteration|ja|Tsutsumi Chūnagon Monogatari}}. In the story, the protagonist's eccentric behavior is considered less reprehensible than her repulsive natural appearance, and a maiden describes her completely unplucked eyebrows as "hairy caterpillars" and her undyed teeth as "skinless caterpillars",<ref name="Morris">{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Ivan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IzPatf13rT8C&q=teeth&pg=PT21 |title=The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |year=2013 |isbn=978-0345803917 |pages= |chapter= |orig-date=1964}}</ref> while a captain of the guard who shows attraction to her is repelled by her lack of makeup and, above all, by her teeth which "shone horribly when she smiled."<ref name="Morris" />
The tradition first appeared among men and women of the Heian period aristocracy between the 9th and 11th centuries,<ref name="Freeman" /><ref>Wagatsuma, 1967, pp. 408-409</ref> which was soon followed by women of all social classes.<ref name=":1" /> It began as a rite of maturity among adolescent girls that by the end of this period had spread to noblemen.<ref name="Ashikari">{{Cite journal |last=Ashikari |first=Mikiko |year=2003 |title=The memory of the women's white faces: Japaneseness and the ideal image of women |url=https://es.scribd.com/doc/135818675/White-Face-Japanese |journal=Japan Fórum|volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=76–77 |doi=10.1080/0955580032000077739 |s2cid=144510689 |issn=0955-5803 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213014149/https://es.scribd.com/doc/135818675/White-Face-Japanese |archive-date=13 December 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref> During the later Kamakura period, when aristocrats such as those belonging to the Taira clan, other samurai,<ref name="Ashikari" /> and almost all nobles came of age, they dyed their teeth.<ref name="Fukagawa">{{Cite web |last=Fukagawa |first=Masahiko |title=Teeth color as a cultural form |url=http://www.fukagawa.or.jp/research/Teeth_color.html |access-date=7 December 2014}}</ref> In the particular case of samurai and members of the nobility of these periods it was customary to dye their teeth for the first time upon passing their {{transliteration|ja|genpuku}} or initiation ceremony, at the age of fifteen or sixteen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blomberg |first=Cathalina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4YH7AQAAQBAJ&dq=japan+dye+teeth+ceremonies&pg=PT121 |title=The Heart of the Warrior: Origins and Religious Background of the Samurai System in Feudal Japan |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1134240333}}</ref> This was also how it was done in the court of the Imperial Family until the end of the Edo period.<ref name=":0" /> Although its specific use by elites was soon diluted and came to be considered acceptable among commoner women,<ref>Wagatsuma, 1967, p. 438</ref> especially among married women and geisha, it was a forbidden practice for the marginalized or {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}}, vagrants and the poorest of the poor.<ref name=":2" />
During the Muromachi period, {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} was common among adults, although even before the advent of the Sengoku period it was more often among nobles as a sign of the passage into puberty and was done on boys<ref>Wagatsuma, 1967, p. 409</ref> and especially girls entering that stage,<ref name=":2" /> around the age of 13.<ref name=":1" /> In the celebration of marriages, those relatives of the bride who were responsible for assisting her in the process and introducing her to others were given the name {{nihongo||鉄漿親|kaneoya}} or {{transliteration|ja|kanetsuke-oya}}, literally "godmother" of {{transliteration|ja|kanetsuke}} (blackening of teeth).<ref>{{cite book |surname=Sugiyama Lebra |first=Takie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dNUpa8WCY3gC&dq=kanetsuke&pg=PA109 |title=Japanese Women: Constraint and Fulfillment |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1984 |isbn=0824810252 |pages=109 |language=}}</ref>
Throughout these convulsive centuries, which saw the emergence of a multitude of {{transliteration|ja|daimyō}} at odds with each other and led to the wars of the Sengoku period, samurai would take the heads of their enemies and collect them as trophies after battle to enhance their reputation in the eyes of their {{transliteration|ja|daimyō}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Louis |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wExlaM1ov0sC&dq=ohaguro+samurai&pg=PA181 |title=Samurai: The Code of the Warrior |last2=Ito |first2=Tommy |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc |year=2008 |isbn=978-1402763120 |pages=181 |chapter=Chapter 5: Samurai at War}}</ref> The heads were identified and in many cases received {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} after decapitation to enhance the combatant's glory in defeating a notable enemy. In the {{transliteration|ja|Oan Monogatari}}, in English ''The Story of Oan'', the daughter of a servant of Ishida Mitsunari narrates this process after surviving the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600:
{{Blockquote|Our allies stacked the severed heads they had obtained in this part of the castle. We put a label on each of the heads so that we could identify them properly, then we dyed their teeth black repeatedly. Why did we do this? Long ago blackened teeth were admired as a symbol of a distinguished man. So we were asked to apply a generous coat of ohaguro to any head with white teeth. | source = Eiko Ikegami <ref>{{cite book |last=Ikegami |first=Eiko |title=The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmNLkWEb-jkC&dq=ohaguro+teeth+dead&pg=PA102 |publisher=Harvard University Press |pages=100–102 |isbn=0674868080 |year=1995 |chapter=Early Medieval Warfare }}</ref>}}
It was towards the end of this period that the men engaging in the practice became a minority.<ref name="Fukagawa" />
During the Edo period, only men who were part of the Imperial Family and the aristocracy had their teeth blackened. Because of the strong odor and the effort required for the process,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Collia-Suzuki |first=Gina |title=Beautiful Blackened Smiles |url=http://www.ginacolliasuzuki.com/author/ohaguro-beautiful-blackened-smiles.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513153445/http://www.ginacolliasuzuki.com/author/ohaguro-beautiful-blackened-smiles.html |archive-date=13 May 2013}}</ref> in addition to the impression among young women that it made them look older, {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} was only performed on women who were getting married or engaged,<ref name="Ashikari" /> prostitutes,{{efn|Also among the men who practiced prostitution, the {{transliteration|ja|kagema}} or {{transliteration|ja|yarō}}, who adopted the customs and manners of the women of the time.}} and geisha. There are also mentions of {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} in fairy tales, such as ''Gon, the Little Fox'', by Niimi Nankichi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lonely Fox (The Former Part) |url=http://www.geocities.co.jp/HeartLand-Gaien/7211/kudos18/gonfox1.html |publication-date=1 November 2014 |quote=[...] the fox saw the farmer's wife, applying tooth black to her teeth.}}</ref>
In 1870 the government banned the practice of {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} on men,<ref>{{cite book |last=Chamberlain |first=Basil Hall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ffCAwAAQBAJ |title=Things Japanese: Being Notes on Various Subjects Connected With Japan for the Use of Travellers and Others |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |isbn=9781108073851 |edition= |pages=45 |orig-date=1890}}</ref> and the tradition gradually became obsolete, especially from 1873 among married and noblewomen, when the Empress Shōken decided to appear in public with white teeth.<ref name=":3" /> Until the last years of the Meiji period, {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} was still a popular custom among the middle and lower classes<ref name="Ashikari" /> but from the Taishō period onwards it virtually disappeared except among elderly women in rural areas.<ref name="Ashikari" />
Nowadays, the only places where {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} can be seen are some Japanese festivals, in period films, in kabuki,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Buckley |first=Sandra |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZKFAgAAQBAJ&dq=ohaguro+geisha&pg=PA90 |title=Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=1134763530 |pages=90 |chapter=Cosmetics}}</ref> and in some {{transliteration|ja|hanamachi}} (geisha districts), where some apprentice geisha have their teeth blackened during the last stage of their apprenticeship, {{transliteration|ja|erikae}}, before graduating to geisha status.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Foster">{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=John Paul |title=Good-bye and hello to the geisha Mamehana of Gion Kobu |url=http://www.johnpaulfoster.com/blog/2012/09/good-bye-and-hello-to-the-geisha-mamehana-of-gion-kobu/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213220623/http://www.johnpaulfoster.com/blog/2012/09/good-bye-and-hello-to-the-geisha-mamehana-of-gion-kobu/ |archive-date=13 December 2014 |website=johnpaulfoster.com |quote=Also, Mamehana is the only Maiko I have photographed during ''sakkou'' who did not blacken her teeth with ''ohaguro''. [...] For instance, the maiko I knew best before Mamehana, Yukako and Makiko, both told me how proud they were to wear ohaguro during ''sakkou'', [...]}}</ref> The application of {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} and the hairstyle known as {{transliteration|ja|sakkō}}, both traditionally characteristic of Japanese newlyweds, is a symbol of their "marriage" to the arts they practice.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yamaguchi |first=Sherry |title=Essence of Kyoto |url=http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/featured/fk/essence.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213115727/http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/featured/fk/essence.html |archive-date=13 December 2014 |website=NHK.or.jp}}</ref>
== Social consideration and role == [[File:Kunisada-woman-blackening-teeth-c-1815.jpg|thumb|262x262px|{{transliteration|ja|Nishiki-e}} by Utagawa Kunisada, from the series ''Three beauties making up their faces'' (1815). A geisha is seen making use of the complete set of traditional elements for blackening, most notably the {{transliteration|ja|mimidarai}} and {{transliteration|ja|watashigane}} as a support for the others.]]
Following the ending of Japan's self-isolation policy in the 1860s, a large number of Westerners who visited Japan – including Engelbert Kaempfer, Philipp Franz von Siebold and Rutherford Alcock, who visited Edo-period Japan – described {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} as "an abhorrent Japanese custom that disfigured their women",<ref name="Leisure">{{Cite journal |last=Macaulay |first=James |year=1868 |title=Life in Japan |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433081682993 |journal=The Leisure Hour; an Illustrated Magazine for Home Reading. |location=London |volume=17 |pages=262 |hdl=2027/nyp.33433081682993 |oclc=1604220}}</ref><ref name="Watanabe">Kyouji Watanabe, "Yukishi Yono Omokage", ISBN 4582765521, published by Heibonsha.</ref> whom, in fact, many of them considered to be of great beauty until they smiled.<ref name="Leisure" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Leup |first=Gary P. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-I6owJcCOdwC&dq=alcock+japan+teeth&pg=PA132 |title=Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900 |publisher=A&C Black |year=2003 |isbn=0826460747 |pages=132 |chapter=Admiration for Japanese women |quote=Westerners continued to lament the traditional practices of tooth- blackening and eyebrow plucking; these greatly reduced the Japanese women's appeal.}}</ref><ref name="Mason">{{Cite book |last=Mason Satow |first=Ernest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNKtueHW0tkC&q=teeth |title=A Diplomat in Japan: The Inner History of the Critical Years in the Evolution of Japan When the Ports Were Opened and the Monarchy Restored |publisher=Stone Bridge Press, Inc |year=2007 |isbn=978-0893469610 |pages=200 |chapter=XVI First Visit to Ozaka}}</ref> Alcock surmised that its purpose would be chastity by intentionally making women unattractive,<ref name="Leisure" /> which would prevent potential extramarital affairs<ref>Alcock, 1863, 193</ref> and his view of this custom hardly changed during his three-year stay in Japan:{{efn|Other Westerners were not so severe in their appraisals, and some even mention having become accustomed to it and being able to observe without aversion, but among the testimonials none show appreciation for the custom.}}
{{blockquote|Once they have renewed the black varnish on their teeth and plucked every last hair from their eyebrows, Japanese married women could assert their unparalleled preeminence in artificial ugliness over the rest of their sex. Their mouths thus disfigured are like open sepulchers [...] | source = Rutherford Alcock <ref>Alcock, 1863, p. 192</ref>}}
Japanese sociologist Kyouji Watanabe disagrees with this theory. Considering that Japanese girls were allowed a high degree of social and sexual freedom until the moment of receiving the {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}}, when they accepted their responsibility as a wife and mother, Watanabe posits that this was a social ritual by which both society and the young woman affirmed the determination of the woman who had matured.<ref name="Watanabe" />
== Dye == The main ingredient was a dark brown solution of iron acetate called {{nihongo3|{{lit|iron juice water}}|鉄奨水|kanemizu}}, created by dissolving iron filings in vinegar.<ref name=":3" /> When the solution was combined with vegetable tannins from sources such as powdered galls of the {{nihongo|Chinese sumac plant||fushi}}<ref name=":3" /> or tea, it turned black and ceased to be soluble in water, the same method by which iron gall ink is produced. Covering the teeth with this liquid prevented decay of the teeth and enamel<ref name=":5" /> and was also said to ease the pain of dental ailments almost immediately.<ref name="Freeman" /> The dye faded quickly and had to be applied once a day or every few days to keep the dark shade even.<ref name=":3" />
Among foreigners who knew of the custom, a rumor, never proven, spread that the ingredients also included urine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=Robin D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6vMfibKtBsC&dq=ohaguro&pg=PA157 |title=Topsy-turvy 1585 |publisher=Paraverse Press |year=2004 |pages=157|isbn=9780974261812 }}</ref> Bertram Freeman-Mitford transcribed in his ''Tales of Ancient Japan'' (1871) a recipe which he claimed had been described to him by a reputable apothecary in Yedo:
{{blockquote| Take three pints of water, and, having warmed it, add half a teacupful of wine. Put into this mixture a quantity of red-hot iron; allow it to stand from five or six days, when there will be a scum on the top of the mixture, which should then be poured into a small teacup and placed near a fire. When it is warm, powdered gall-nuts and iron filings should be added to it, and the whole should be warmed again. The liquid is then painted on to the teeth by means of a soft feather brush, with more powdered gall-nuts and iron, and, after a few applications, the desired {{not a typo|colour will be obtained}}.<!-- direct quote of British English text --> | source = {{ cite book | first=A. B. | last=Mitford | authorlink=Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale | title=Tales of Old Japan | year=1966 | orig-date=1871 | publisher=Charles E. Tuttle Company | isbn=9780804811606 | page=420 }} }}
In kabuki theatrical performances, actors painted their teeth black whenever they played married women, courtesans, and with some noblemen,<ref name="Leiter">{{cite book |last=Leiter |first=Samuel L. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1iX1co5TJPMC&dq=kabuki+hayagane&pg=PA275 |title=The Art of Kabuki: Five Famous Plays |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=1999 |isbn=0486408728 |pages=275 |chapter=Glossary}}</ref> for which they traditionally used a mixture of brown sugar and pine resin.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Adolphe Clarence |title=The Kabuki Theatre of Japan |publisher=Courier Corporation |year=1999 |isbn=9780486406459 |pages=126 |chapter=The actor's Technique |orig-year=1955 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=68RITdcFpHYC&q=blackened+teeth&pg=PA303}}</ref> The mixture used in kabuki was given the name {{transliteration|ja|hayagane}},<ref name="Leiter" /> and in more complex formulations could include wax, pine resin, carbon black, red pigment, rice honey, and lamp oil, all softened over a flame.<ref name="Leiter" />
== Application == [[File:ShunsenHagurobettari.jpg|thumb|{{transliteration|ja|Ohaguro-bettari}} from {{transliteration|ja|Ehon Hyaku Monogatari}}, in English ''Picture book of a hundred stories'', 1841]] For the treatment, preservation and application of the dye, various containers and tools were used. Among these were the {{transliteration|ja|mimidarai}}, a large bowl with handles on which was placed the {{transliteration|ja|watashigane}}, a thin tray to hold the elements with which the dye was applied.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Blacking the Teeth (Kanetsuke), No. 3 from the series Twelve Rituals of Marriage (Konrei jûni-shiki |url=http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/blacking-the-teeth-kanetsuke-no-3-from-the-series-twelve-rituals-of-marriage-konrei-j%C3%BBni-shiki-226456}}</ref> The set of smaller items was kept inside a larger case: the {{transliteration|ja|haguro-bako}}, in which were kept the {{transliteration|ja|fushi-bako}} or small box for the gall powder; the {{transliteration|ja|haguro-tsugi}}, with which the dye was administered; and the {{transliteration|ja|ugai-chawan}}, a small porcelain bowl for gargling after the process.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Koizumi |first=Kazuko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1_7z2MeZOMC |title=Traditional Japanese Furniture: A Definitive Guide |publisher=Kodansha International |year=1986 |isbn=9780870117220 |location= |page=129 |chapter=}}</ref>
Each time the procedure was repeated, the teeth were carefully rubbed with the peel of a pomegranate to form an adhesive surface for the dye.<ref name=":3" /> According to Freeman-Mitford, the dye should be applied at most every two days, because even after the first day without a new coat, the teeth lost their lacquered shine and pieces of gray were mixed with those that maintained the desired black color, resulting in an undesirable appearance.<ref name="Freeman" />
== Superstitions, legends, and popular expressions ==
* During the Meiji period, an urban legend spread that the coal tar used as insulation at the beginning of the extension of electrical wiring throughout Japanese cities was actually composed in part of the blood of virgins, an idea that became associated with the Westerners who were originally in charge of installing the wires.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Figal |first=Gerald A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTgTO6Vkzt8C&dq=%22meiji%22+%22wires%22+%22virgins%22&pg=PA34 |title=Civilization and Monsters: Spirits of Modernity in Meiji Japan |publisher=Duke University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0822324180 |pages=34 |chapter=Bakumatsu Bakemono}}</ref> To avoid being attacked and having their blood drawn, many young women decided to change their appearance to look like married women: they dyed their teeth black, painted their eyebrows, wore simple kimono, and styled their hair in the {{transliteration|ja|marumage}} style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Urban legends from Meiji-period Japan |url=http://pinktentacle.com/2010/02/urban-legends-from-meiji-period-japan/ |website=Pinktentacle.com |at=Electric power lines insulated with the blood of virgins}}</ref> * In Yamada Norio's book {{transliteration|ja|Tohoku Kaidan no Tabi}}, in English ''Journey through the ghost stories of Tohoku'', there is a story about Fukushima prefecture called {{nihongo3|{{lit|full of blackened teeth}}|お歯黒べったり|ohaguro bettari}}.<ref name="Yokai">{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Matthew |title=Ohaguro-bettari |url=http://yokai.com/ohagurobettari/ |website=The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: a Field Guide to Japanese Yokai |publication-date=2013}}</ref> It is about a {{transliteration|ja|yōkai}}, more specifically a type of {{transliteration|ja|noppera-bō}}, dressed and made up in the old Japanese women's fashion, but on her made-up face appears only a large mouth full of black teeth.<ref name="Yokai" /> * A legend from the island of Himeshima tells that when {{nihongo|Himegami|姫神||extra=Divine Princess}} fled from Prince Tsunuga Arashito of the Gaya confederacy, she stopped for a moment on her journey to apply {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}}. When she then wanted to rinse her mouth she found no water anywhere nearby, so she clapped her hands and water began to gush out of the ground. That is the reason why the Hyoshimizu spring at Himekoso shrine is also called {{transliteration|ja|ohaguro mizu}} ('{{transliteration|ja|ohaguro}} water').<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 January 2007 |title=拍子水 Hyoushi-mizu Hyoshimizu Spring |url=http://nippon-kichi.jp/article_list.do?p=953&ml_lang=en |website=nippon-kichi.jp}}</ref> * The main red-light district in the country between the 17th century and the prohibition of prostitution in Japan in 1958 was Yoshiwara, in Edo. The district was surrounded on all four sides by a small moat with water that received the name {{transliteration|ja|Ohaguro-dobu}}, literally 'Black Tooth Canal', because of the abundance of prostitutes with dyed teeth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cybriwsky |first=Roman Adrian |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9pePrUSs7kMC&dq=ohaguro+%22moat%22&pg=PA275 |title=Historical Dictionary of Tokyo |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0810874893 |edition=2nd, revised |location=Plymouth |pages=274 |chapter=Yoshiwara}}</ref>
== Other parts of East Asia == [[File:Tonkin_woman.jpg|thumb|369x369px|Young Tonkin girl with black painted teeth, {{c.|1905}}]] [[File:Nhuộm_răng_đen.jpg|thumb|Vietnamese old woman selling chewing gum. Her teeth have the dark red hue of betel chewers.]] In China there has been knowledge of the custom of teeth blackening throughout history, although it was not practiced in the domains of the Middle Kingdom, nor did the majority of its ethnic groups.<ref name=":0" /> As early as the 4th century BC's {{transliteration|zh|Shan Hai Jing}}, the description of a 'black-toothed country' or {{transliteration|zh|Hei-chi-guo}} ({{lang|zh|黒歯国}}) appears, which some associate with Japan itself<ref name=":5" /> and most others with the Southeast Asian area due to its extent in the region and greater antiquity.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
In more modern times, tooth blackening can be observed among many minority groups in Southeast Asia.<ref name="Southeast">{{Cite web |last=Zumbroich |first=Thomas J. |title=The Ethnobotany of Teeth Blackening in Southeast Asia |url=http://lib-ojs3.lib.sfu.ca:8114/index.php/era/article/view/393 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211084302/http://lib-ojs3.lib.sfu.ca:8114/index.php/era/article/view/393 |archive-date=11 December 2014 |website=ethnobotanyjournal.org}}</ref><ref name="Strengthen">{{Cite web |last=Zumbroich |first=Thomas J. |title=To Strengthen the Teeth and Harden the Gums - Teeth blackening as medical practice in Asia, Micronesia and Melanesia |url=http://lib-ojs3.lib.sfu.ca:8114/index.php/era/article/view/433 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141211084313/http://lib-ojs3.lib.sfu.ca:8114/index.php/era/article/view/433 |archive-date=11 December 2014 |website=ethnobotanyjournal.org}}</ref> It is found preferentially among older women, although the practice still exists among some young girls. Sometimes artificial teeth were used to obtain black teeth<ref name=":5" /> although it is also very common outside Japan to achieve this result by continuously chewing betel nut,<ref name="Southeast" /> which gives a dark red shade instead of black,<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Nguyễn |first=Đình Hoà |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itOeaXMT5ycC&dq=china+teeth+blackening&pg=PA116 |title=From the City Inside the Red River: A Cultural Memoir of Mid-century Vietnam |publisher=McFarland |year=1999 |isbn=0786404981 |pages=116 |quote=Among post-1975 refugee communities, the older ladies, especially those from Tonkín, can still be found with blackened teeth...}}</ref> in addition to all sorts of plants collected mainly in the jungle.<ref name="Southeast" />
The practice of teeth dyeing was very ancient in Vietnam, where it was considered a demonstration of maturity and readiness for marriage after puberty.<ref name=":2" /> It was also a demonstration of civilization, as there was an idea that white teeth belonged to animals, savages, and evil spirits,<ref name=":2" /> especially because of the presence of large protruding canines in all of them.<ref name="Southeast" /> The majority ethnic group in Vietnam, the Kinh, practiced this custom, as did various minority populations. Si La men painted their teeth red, while women painted their teeth black.<ref name=":2" /> These traditions declined in the 20th century, decade by decade with each new generation,<ref name=":6" /> although colonial medical reports from the 1930s stated that 80 percent of Tonkinese farmers had darkened teeth.<ref name=":6" />
Peoples who practiced some form of tooth blackening outside of Japan include:
* In China, in Yunnan province, especially in Xishuangbanna prefecture, the ethnic groups: Jino,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ceinos Arcones |first=Pedro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jsNTAwAAQBAJ&dq=yunnan+teeth+blackening&pg=PA75 |title=China's Last but one matriarchy: The Jino of Yunnan |publisher=Papers of the White Dragon |year=2014 |pages=75}}</ref> Blang,<ref>{{cite book |author=Lonely Planet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wF82m2nivN0C&q=bulang+teeth&pg=PT1472 |title=Lonely Planet China |publisher= Lonely Planet Publications|year=2013 |isbn=978-1743216408 |pages= |quote=Avid betel-nut chewers, the women believe black teeth are beautiful.}}</ref> Dai,<ref>{{cite book |author=Lonely Planet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sm-2FZavr9QC&q=betel+teeth&pg=PA421 |title=South-West China |publisher=Lonely Planet |year=2002 |isbn=186450370X |page=356 |chapter=}}</ref> Yi, and Lisu.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In Vietnam, the Si La,<ref name=":2" /> Kinh, Thổ, Nung, Maa, Mnong, and Rade ethnic groups.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In Laos, the Khmu ethnic group.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In Thailand, the Lahu,<ref name=":2" /> Akha, and Lisu ethnic groups.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In Malaysia, the Malay, both in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo, and the Jakun.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In Indonesia, the Dusun, Dayak, Karo, Kodi, Alfur, Kedang, Ngada, Acehnese, Minangkabau, Makassar, Sundanese, Javanese, and Batak.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In Philippines, the Isnag, Aeta, Bicolano, Mangyan, Mansaka, Mandaya, Manobo, Yakan, Ivatan, Tausug, Bagobo, Kankanaey, Igorot, Gaddang, Ilongote, and Ifugao.<ref name="Southeast" /> * In the Pacific, the islands of Palau, Yap, and the Mariana Islands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cunningham |first=Lawrence J. |title=Mariana's Past |url=http://www.offisland.com/feature/teeth.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309003958/http://www.offisland.com/feature/teeth.html |archive-date=9 March 2012 |website=offisland.com}}</ref><ref name="Strengthen" /><ref name=":2" />
== See also ==
* Teeth blackening * Culture of Japan * Culture of Southeast Asia
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Alcock |first=Rutherford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yuVAAAAAcAAJ&q=teeth |title=The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of a Three Years Residence in Japan |publisher=Longmanz |year=1863}} * {{Cite book |last=Casal |first=Ugo Alfonso |title=Japanese cosmetics and teeth-blackening |publisher=Asiatic Society of Japan |year=1966 |series=Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan |volume=9 |oclc=31812278}} * {{Cite book |last=Hara |first=Mitsumasa |title=Ohaguro no kenkyū |publisher=Ningen no kagakusya |year=1984 |language=japanese |oclc=23310601}} * {{Cite book |last=Wagatsuma |first=Hiroshi |url=http://uwbodyadornment.pbworks.com/f/JapanSkinColor.pdf |title=The Social Perception of Skin Color in Japan |publisher=The MIT Press |year=1967 |series=Daedalus |volume=96 |chapter=Color and Race |issue=2}}
Category:Culture of Japan Category:Southeast (Vietnam) Category:History of cosmetics