Nostalgic longing for the better days of ‘dyed-black teeth’
Natsukashii! (æ‡ã‹ã—ã‚€) (To wax nostalgic)
Oh yeah! Bring back those good old days of ohaguro (ãŠæ¯é»’) dyed-black teeth and ear picking!
Author believed Edo ways best suited Japan
By any account, author Hinako Sugiura, who died last Friday at the age of 46, loved things associated with life during the Edo Period (1603-1867).
She loved kumade (bamboo rakes), yuya (bathhouses), mimikaki (ear picks), shakushi (ladles), kotatsu (foot warmers), kaya (mosquito nets), ohaguro (dyed-black teeth)….
…I think the modern feudal system in the Edo Period was more open and more orderly.”
Remarkably, Google Image Search does not have any closeups of traditional teeth blackening. It seems that the last women to use traditional black booth dye was in 1976 in Akita prefecture.
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