Women would apply various substances to their teeth, such as mixtures of tooth wax and ink, to maintain their black appearance. The practice was banned in the late 19th century, in an effort to modernise Japan and make its culture more appealing to Westerners. It’s pretty common to see someone eating a bag of chips or sipping coffee while walking down the street in Western countries, but this is not the case in Japan. While it isn’t considered quite as rude as it used to be, eating or drinking while walking is still looked upon as poor manners. When most Japanese people buy food or drink from a vending machine on the street, for example, they’ll consume the whole thing while standing beside the machine to avoid walking with it.
