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Origin and meaning
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 ohaguro are still unclear: simple dental care has been proposed, as well as the differentiation between humans and demons depicted with large white fangs, 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; or the Japanese and other Far Eastern cultures holding a preference for concealing the public display of feelings with the combination of oshiroi (white makeup), the complete plucking of the eyebrows, and their repainting – a practice known as hikimayu (引眉, hikimayu) – and the dyeing of teeth creating a masklike appearance. 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.Among the samurai, its origin is associated with the idea of loyalty expressed by the color black. When a samurai dyed his teeth black, it reflected his decision not to serve another lord for the rest of his life, and, from the time of the shikken or regents of the shōgun, the nobles applied it with similar regard for loyalty.
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