Topics in Japan #42:
Ero Shigin--- Tenshin Kimura's new "art form" ? |
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Shigin is the art of reciting or chanting poems, which is thought to have originated in China and have entered Japan in ancient times. Shigin performers usually chant old Chinese poems, but "ero shigin(erotic shigin)" by a comedian Tenshin Kimura is a totally new and different form of shigin ---his chants are about stupid sexual episodes!
Kimura's father and grandfather are both masters of shigin. Kimura himself is also a qualified instructor of shigin, but he chose a different path and became a comedian in 1999, when he formed a comedy duo called "Tenshin" with his fellow comedian Mukai. At the end of 2007, Kimura chanted ero shigin for the first time. Although they're stupid and some of them are "too erotic" to air on TV, they became popular and made Kimura a star comedian in 2008.
So, here's an example of his ero shigin:
When I see a girl struggling
To pick up a sausage with chopsticks from a pot
I feel like I can make it (to sleep with her) tonight!
After chanting, he always shouts, "I think it's true!" He chants as if his sexual episodes are familiar to everyone else, but obviously, they're not quite so.
When Kimura perfoms ero shigin, he wears a traditional kimono and has his hairstyle is nice and tidy. He also has good posture and a great voice. Maybe this gap between his decent look and his indecent poems is one reason for his popularity. Well, if you want to show off about your sexual episodes, you may want to try chanting ero shigin in front of your friends---just make sure they're funny and not gross! |
