Is Post-Meal Toothpick Sucking a Manner Violation? 5ch Says ‘Never Seen It in Real Life’

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An AERA article asking whether so-called “shii-haa” — using a toothpick after meals to pick food out from between your teeth, complete with the sucking sound — counts as a manner violation drew a flood of responses on 5ch’s Newsflash+ board.

The thread was a mix of reactions: some questioned the article’s basic premise, saying they’d “never actually seen it happen in real life”; others pointed out that gums recede with age, creating gaps between teeth; and still others recommended switching to floss or an oral irrigator.

Is Sucking on a Toothpick After Meals a Manner Violation? The “Disgust” Flooding Social Media That the “Older Guy Generation” Doesn’t Know About | AERA DIGITAL

Using a toothpick after a meal to remove leftover food stuck in your mouth — it’s something many people, men especially, have probably done at least once. When describing the sound in writing, people use terms like “shii-haa,” “shii-shii,” “chi-chi-chi…”

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Source: dot.asahi.com / Original article here

3Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:40:59.19ID:3vJWMQVJ0
Old-man bashing again
10Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:43:23.52ID:ajSK8LJR0
Then what are toothpicks even for?
113Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:14:55.89ID:ZPk5OiL40
>>3
>>10
Just do it discreetly. Opening your mouth wide and making loud noises in public is "tsuma-hara" (toothpick harassment).
7Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:42:06.24ID:2vYfnbFd0
As you get older your gums recede and food gets stuck more easily.
74Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:00:48.72ID:YbJxctpS0
>>7
Just go rinse your mouth in the bathroom. Take your tooth-crud-covered toothpick trash with you.

>>22
You see it all the time at Sukiya's breakfast set. Makes me want to kill someone.
16Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:45:33.01ID:4/MKooQo0
(´・ω・`) Do the gaps get bigger with age?
49Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:54:51.76ID:Pjvb6Aux0
>>16
Gums recede or shrink, exposing more of the tooth root, which creates more gaps. It varies by person, but it's an unavoidable part of aging.
20Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:46:45.13ID:TFkQmFql0
So if a modern-day Atsuo Nakamura doing his Kogarashi Monjiro thing (the toothpick-chewing drifter character from the old period drama) existed today, he'd get dogpiled every single day?
41Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:52:22.18ID:39RqJ28Q0
>>20
He just holds it in his mouth, he's not really doing the shii-haa thing — though his eating manners are gross.
22Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:47:14.30ID:YvG/0Bg50
Never seen anyone actually do the shii-haa thing in real life lol
34Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:50:27.17ID:NdeH6A/Z0
If you never use a toothpick or floss, plaque and tartar just keep building up, and your breath and saliva end up reeking. There's a lot that plain rinsing alone won't get rid of.
64Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:58:36.96ID:urHdWhTG0
>>34
You don't have to do it in front of people though.
51Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:55:55.65ID:s08PsZoM0
> "It's something many people, men especially, have probably done at least once."

No they haven't. It's a minority who do this. What's with just deciding that based on guesswork? Whatever magazine this is, this kind of piece has always been full of weirdos.
52Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:56:07.19ID:FfvSxn370
Does anyone actually do the shii-haa thing with a toothpick? I've barely ever seen it.
59Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:57:54.45ID:cvGOlDmu0
>>52
They just want to bash old guys, so they're listing off anything, even stuff nobody does anymore these days.
54Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 12:56:36.77ID:G5+fFbwF0
Why bother specifying "men" at all? Anyone uses toothpicks.
102Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:10:47.96ID:8zUag+XT0
>>54
"Men especially…"

They covered themselves properly there. Mission accomplished on the impression manipulation.
107Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:12:46.36ID:G7Al6lXm0
Toothpicks are terrible compared to interdental brushes. Personally I'm overwhelmingly team floss. Since I started flossing, my dental problems dropped massively. Old guys should use floss too.
132Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:21:09.57ID:9FvfRoab0
>>107
Try a portable oral irrigator. It beats floss by a long shot.
163Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:35:26.06ID:VPQBZnbg0
Restaurants that even have toothpicks set out barely exist anymore, don't they?

Is this whole story just something the reporter made up?
169Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:38:12.35ID:dOw+GALc0
>>163
Yeah, restaurants that put out toothpicks are rare these days. And if they're not there in the first place, there's no problem to begin with.
173Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:39:23.97ID:8dNj16pf0
>>163
There are people who go on about convenience-store toothpicks too — I doubt they even have much of a social life.
167Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:36:45.78ID:Mjj/trff0
When you're pre-periodontal-disease territory, your gums recede, gaps form between your teeth, and food starts getting stuck there. I only figured that out in my late 40s.

I used to bring a toothbrush to work and brush after lunch too, but I still ended up with gum disease. I still don't know what the right answer is for brushing when you're young and an interdental brush or floss won't even fit through.

Now I go to the dentist regularly and use an interdental brush, so the gum disease has at least stopped progressing.
181Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:42:30.27ID:VDWK3T4l0
>>167
At first it bleeds a ton, but it stops quickly, and once your gums get healthier it stops bleeding altogether.
180Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:42:02.73ID:CcMFNHmK0
Young people will end up doing the same thing once they get older. Aging causes gaps to form between your teeth. Plus there's periodontal disease to deal with.
185Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:46:50.38ID:+vnxsXcH0
Young people will understand why old guys did the shii-haa thing once they get older themselves.
191Anonymous2026/08/20(木) 13:51:11.81ID:GwJd4mrD0
>>180
>>185
The framing that "everyone does the shii-haa thing once they hit that age" is a bit off. Even if you use a toothpick, you can do it without making noise. Plenty of elderly people cover their mouth with a hand and use one silently.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newsflash+) thread “Is Sucking on a Toothpick After Meals a Manner Violation? The “Disgust” Flooding Social Media That the “Older Guy Generation” Doesn’t Know About | AERA.”

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