References

Tooth blackening in Japan

The custom of dyeing one’s teeth black and an aristocratic term. It was practised since prehistoric times (traces of blackened teeth can be seen in the buried bones and haniwa from the Kofun period) and remained most popular in Japan until the Meiji era, as well as in the southeastern parts of China and Southeast Asia. Dyeing was mainly done by married women, though occasionally men did it as well.