Hikimayu

In pre-modern Japan, hikimayu was the practice of removing the natural eyebrows and painting smudge-like eyebrows on the forehead. Hiki means "pull" and mayu means "eyebrows".

Aristocratic women used to pluck or shave their eyebrows and paint new ones using a powdered ink called haizumi, which was made of soot from sesame or rape-seed oils.^[1]

Hikimayu first appeared in the eighth century, when the Japanese court adopted Chinese customs and styles.^[2] Japanese noblewomen started painting their faces with a white powder called oshiroi (de). One putative reason for hikimayu is that removing the natural eyebrows made it easier to put on the oshiroi. At this time the eyebrows were painted in arc shapes,^[2] as in China. Women also started painting their teeth black, which is known as ohaguro.

Hikimayu is mentioned in both of the great literary classics of the Heian period, The Tale of Genji and The Pillow Book. 

Hikimayu can be seen in Rashomon, Ugetsu and Ran, three of the great masterpieces of Japanese cinema.