What Is Shigin — Features and History (with video)
Shigin is a performing art in which poems—such as classical Chinese poetry, waka, and haiku—are chanted with distinctive melodic patterns; it is also called “gin’ei”.
In shigin, rather than singing each syllable to a melody like a typical “song,” the reciter reads each word of the poem to completion and then adds shigin-specific melodic turns (melismatic ornamentation; akin to kobushi in enka, including styles such as setsuchō and yuri) to express the poem’s imagery.
For example, at the beginning of the Chinese poem “Kōnan no Haru (Spring in Jiangnan)” there is the line “senri, uguisu naite.” When chanting this in shigin, you do not sing it like “se—n—ri— u—gu—i—su— na—i—te—♪”; instead, you would intone it as “senri〜 (melismatic ornamentation) uguisu naite〜〜 (melismatic ornamentation).”
Since it can be hard to picture from text alone, please watch the video below first. It features shigin performed by Yuko Suzuka of Wagakki Band (Kafuugetsu).
Do you now have a general sense of what “shigin” is?
Because shigin originated among Confucian scholars in the Edo period, reciting Chinese poetry remains central even today; however, it is also common to chant waka, tanka, haiku, haikai-uta, and modern-style poetry (shintaishi).
As in the video below, shigin is often performed together with sword dance (kenbu) and fan dance (shibu), and collectively these are sometimes called “ginkenshibu”.
A Brief History of Shigin
≫ For details, see “History of Shigin”.
The custom of chanting poems to set melodies goes back to ancient China, but modern-style shigin is said to have begun in the late Edo period, when private academies and domain schools started reading Chinese poetry with distinctive melodic patterns.
Disciples who returned to their hometowns spread shigin throughout Japan, and many schools with a refined, literary style of chant arose nationwide. At the same time, a freer, high-spirited style reflecting the mood of the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration also became popular.
From the Meiji era through the early Shōwa period, influenced in part by Satsuma biwa and other traditions, shigin developed into its present form, and new schools continued to appear.
Schools of Shigin
As noted on the “History of Shigin” page, there are said to be thousands of schools of shigin, and their size and regions of activity vary widely. On “Shigin Fan,” we are continuously updating the “Directory of Shigin Schools and Organizations”.
Shigin as Entertainment
On TV, stage, and live performances, shigin is often presented together with sword and fan dances. There are also many collaborative experiments with calligraphy, flower arrangement, martial arts, stage combat, dance, classical music, jazz, chorus, and more.
≫ Shigin videos with sword dance and stage combat
≫ Calligraphy shigin, flower-arrangement shigin, and martial-arts shigin
≫ Collaborations with music and dance