This is one of Japan’s traditional performing arts that has largely been forgotten by today’s younger generations.

The origins of Shigin date back to the Nara period over 1,300 years ago, when Chinese poetry was introduced to Japan and began to be recited with melodic intonation.
During the late Edo period, a custom emerged in domain schools and private academies of chanting Chinese poetry with distinctive rhythms and melodies as part of scholarly study.
Shigin was especially favored by the patriots of the late Tokugawa era—including Ryoma Sakamoto, Takamori Saigo, Kaishu Katsu, and Shoin Yoshida—and this tradition became the foundation of modern Shigin.