Why Japanese women go for fake crooked teeth
TOKYO —
In many Western countries, crooked teeth are seen as imperfections and most people consider a straight set of pearly whites ideal.
The story is slightly different in Japan, where “yaeba,” or snaggletooth, are considered cute; with some men finding the imperfect smile they form endearingly childlike and attractive.
Okay, so maybe “snaggletooth” is an unfair translation. “Yaeba” literally means “multilayered” or “double” tooth, and describes the fanged look achieved when molars crowd the canines and push them forward. It’s not a serious dental deformity, but it’s certainly enough to get you picked on at school in some countries.
Thanks to the popularity of pop-idol group AKB48′s Tomomi Itano and other celebrities sporting a pair of rogue chompers of their own, “yaeba” has turned into a cosmetic craze in recent years, with Japanese women of all ages flocking to dental clinics to have temporary or permanent artificial canines, called “tsuke-yaeba,” glued to their teeth.
more..http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/why-japanese-women-go-for-fake-crooked-teeth
World’s First Snaggletooth Girl Group
You may have heard of the recent dental trend in Japan called tsuke yaeba, where women get their canines capped to get a crooked set of chompers. If so, you might have guessed that a snaggletooth girl group couldn’t be far behind, and here they are: TYB48.
Eighteen-year-olds Nana, Mio and Rika were chosen from a field of applicants recruited by a dental clinic specializing in tsuke yaeba. Girls with crooked teeth are generally thought to be cute in Japan, and with TYB48 as fashion trendsetters, organizers hope to encourage young women not blessed with overlapping fangs to take have their teeth cosmetically altered.
The group will have their debut concert in Akihabara on April 30th, and concert goers will also be able to pick up copies of their first CD, frighteningly titled “Mind If I Bite?”
more..http://en.rocketnews24.com/2012/04/18/worlds-first-snaggletooth-girl-group/
= new reply since forum marked as read
Kawaii means "cute".
Kawaii has totally permeated Japanese (and now most Asian) Culture. Almost to the point people are either loving it or hating it. A girl pop band, in order to be successful has to be Kawaii in this day and age and so many of managers of these groups will prefer they look as kawaii as possible. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, many of the underground bands, or groups involved in Jrock, VisuelKei (which is also a kind of presentation) will tend to be more gothic or punk looking.
Most of the influence has come from manga (Comic books) and anime, which is a huge multi million dollar industry in Japan.
The driver was a 20-something woman. It wasn't *quite* like the car in this picture, but it was pretty darn close 
They've always thought irregular teeth were cute it was the same in the 80's when I lived in Japan.
Fangs, though, were considered ugly back then and sometimes girls would have them filed down.
It seems the vampire craze has changed things and now fangs are the hot item.
