A custom during the Edo period in which black dye was applied to the teeth of married women as a sign of their marital status.
In ancient times, it was practiced by noblewomen, but gradually it came to be practiced by court noblemen as well, and by the Muromachi period (1336-1573), it is said that women applied it when they reached the age of nine as a sign of coming of age. [...Ok then.]
Eventually, this custom spread to the general public, and all married women were required to perform it.
The powder is said to have been applied to the teeth by soaking iron powder in tea or vinegar, oxidizing it, and then applying a powdered dye called "fushi", which was manufactured from a bump-shaped object called a "gallnut", an abnormal growth caused by an insect parasite on the leaf of a Japanese sumac.
The smell was said to be terrible because of the use of a liquid oxidized with vinegar and other substances.
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