Shigin is a way of reciting poems in Japanese that most likely dates back to the 5th century. The poems are chanted, often before an audience.
We’re lucky enough to have a Shigin recitation of the famous Haiku poem, “Furuike ya” (Old Pond). The poem was recited by Shihoko Mazuka. You can hear it below and read along with the poem and translation.
MP3 of "Furuike ya" in the Shigin Style
古池
蛙飛び込む
水の音
English Translation:
A very old pond
A frog jumping into it
Sound of water, splash!
Pronunciation:
Furuikeya
Kawazu tobikomu
Mizuno oto
"Furuike ya" was written by 17th century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho.
Many thanks to Sadao and Shihoko Mazuka for the recording and for explaining about Shigin recitations.
-Mama Lisa
Image: Frog and Mouse by Getsuju (18th – early 19th century)
This article was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2014 at 9:07 am and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Haiku, Japan, Japanese, Japanese Poems, Languages, MP3's, MP3's of Poems, Poems, Poetry, Recordings, Recordings of Poems, Shigin Recitations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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