Here in the west, crooked teeth is something seen as a flaw. A flaw to be fixed with braces. In Japan however, not only is it not considered a flaw, but is quickly becoming something considered “cute”.
Crooked Teeth (or double teeth) is known as ‘Yaeba’ in Japan. Why many find this ‘cute’ is still something of a mystery. According to some sources, yaeba can give girls a feline look which may make them seem more attractive. Others, when asked, say it’s the little imperfections that makes pretty girls look more approachable as opposed to the heavily airbrushed and photoshopped models that appear on western magazine covers. But it also may have something to do with being a neotenous feature which are features or traits that allow someone to appear more youthful (larger eyes, smaller chins, etc). Neotenous features are right up Japan’s alley as they consider themselves “the culture of cute”.
There are many Japanese actors, idols, pop-stars and TV personalities with yaeba. Instead of having their percieved imperfections fixed, they unabashedly sport them in front of the camera and to their fans. For some, it becomes their trademark.
Yaeba On Purpose?
Something new is happening in Japan. Recently, a dental salon in Tokyo is experiencing quite the business boom after it began advertising a cosmetic procedure to enhance yaeba. Dr. Yoko Kashiyama and staff perform many types of cosmetic dental procedures, but she states that yaeba is definitely the most popular. Using an adhesive, she glues custom-designed artificial teeth onto a person’s natural teeth to make them more pronounced. A Japanese TV station sent a reporter to the dental salon, not only to do a report on the procedure — but actually get it done herself. You can watch the video at the bottom.
How do you feel about yaeba? Cute or not? Let us know in the comments below.
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