Ohaguro

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Ohaguro (御歯黒, 鉄漿) is the fashion of dyeing one's teeth black with ink. Ohaguro has been a Japanese tradition since ancient times up to the beginning of the Meiji era. One of the earliest recorded case of ohaguro usage was in "The Tale of Genji," an 11th century work. Originally, ohaguro was a practise amongst rich families only. A female member of a household would begin ohaguro when entering adulthood, which at that time was considered to be around the age of nine. At one point, it became a fashion for both genders, but by the Edo era it was a fashion for women widely practised by commoners, and it indicated that one was married.

Ohaguro was considered to be more beautiful the blacker the teeth were. Teeth needed to be re-dyed several times a week. The ink coating actually had health benefits of retarding tooth decay. The ink was made from iron soaked in tea or rice wine.