The Thirty-six Poetry Immortals (Japanese 三十六歌仙, Sanjūrokkasen) are a group of Japanese poets of the Nara

Nara period

The of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Gemmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō . Except for 5 years , when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capital of Japanese civilization until Emperor Kammu established a new capital, Nagaoka-kyō, in 784...

, Asuka

Asuka period

The , was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 , although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period...

 and Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

s selected by Fujiwara no Kintō

Fujiwara no Kinto

, also known as Shijō-dainagon, was a Japanese poet, admired by his contemporaries and a court bureaucrat of the Heian period. His father was the regent Fujiwara no Yoritada and his son Fujiwara no Sadayori...

 as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

. There are five female poets among them. Similar groups of Japanese poets include the Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

 Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen (女房三十六歌仙), composed of court ladies exclusively, and the Chūkō Sanjūrokkasen (中古三十六歌仙) or Thirty-six Medieval Poetry Immortals, selected by Fujiwara no Norikane 藤原範兼 (1107-1165). This list superseded an older group called the Six Immortals of Poetry.

Kintō's Thirty-six Poetry Immortals

1. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
   Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
   Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a Japanese poet and aristocrat of the late Asuka period. He was the most prominent of the poets included in the Man'yōshū, and was particularly represented in volumes 1 and 2. In Japan, he is considered one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals...
   
   
2. Ki no Tsurayuki
   Ki no Tsurayuki
   was a Japanese author, poet and courtier of the Heian period.Tsurayuki was a son of Ki no Mochiyuki. He became a waka poet in the 890s. In 905, under the order of Emperor Daigo, he was one of four poets selected to compile the Kokin Wakashū, an anthology of poetry.After holding a few offices in...
   
   
3. Ōshikōchi Mitsune
   Oshikochi Mitsune
   Ōshikōchi no Mitsune was an early Heian administrator and waka poet of the Japanese court , and a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. He was sent as the governor of Kai, Izumi and Awaji provinces, and on his return to Kyoto was asked to participate in the compilation of the Kokin Wakashū...
   
   
4. Lady Ise
   Lady Ise
   Lady Ise was a female Japanese poet in the Imperial court's waka tradition. She was born the Fujiwara no Tsugukage of Ise, and eventually became the lover of the Prince Atsuyoshi and a concubine to Emperor Uda; her son by him was Prince Yuki-Akari.Her poems were emblematic of the changing styles...
   
   
5. Ōtomo no Yakamochi
   Otomo no Yakamochi
   was a Japanese statesman and waka poet in the Nara period. He is a member of the . He was born into the prestigious Ōtomo clan; his grandfather was Ōtomo no Amaro and his father was Ōtomo no Tabito. Ōtomo no Kakimochi was his younger brother, and Ōtomo no Sakanoe no Iratsume his aunt...
   
   
6. Yamabe no Akahito
   Yamabe no Akahito
   Yamabe no Akahito was a poet of the Nara period in Japan. The Man'yōshū, an ancient anthology, contains 13 choka and 37 tanka of his. Many of his poems were composed during journeys with Emperor Shōmu between 724 and 736...
   
   
7. Ariwara no Narihira
   Ariwara no Narihira
   was a Japanese waka poet and aristocrat. He was one of six waka poets referred in the preface in kana to Kokin Wakashū by Ki no Tsurayuki, and has been named as the hero of The Tales of Ise, whose hero was an anonym in itself but most of whose love affairs could be attributed to Narihira.He was the...
   
   
8. Henjō
   Henjo
   Sōjō Henjō was a Japanese waka poet and Buddhist priest. His birth name was Yoshimine no Munesada...
   
   
9. Sosei
   Sosei
   Sosei was a Japanese waka poet and Buddhist priest. He is reckoned as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals, and one of his poems was included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu. His father Henjo was also a waka poet and monk.Sosei entered religious life together with his father after the...
   
   
10. Ki no Tomonori
    Ki no Tomonori
    Ki no Tomonori was an early Heian waka poet of the court, a member of the sanjūrokkasen or Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. He was a compiler of the Kokin Wakashū, though he certainly did not see it to completion as the anthology includes a eulogy to him composed by Ki no Tsurayuki, his colleague in...
    
    
11. Sarumaru no Taifu
    Sarumaru no Taifu
    was a waka poet in the early Heian period. He is a member of the , but there are no detailed histories or legends about him. There is a possibility that there never was such a person. Some believe him to have been Prince Yamashiro no Ōe.- Poetry example :...
    
    
12. Ono no Komachi
    Ono no Komachi
    was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
13. Fujiwara no Kanesuke
    Fujiwara no Kanesuke
    Fujiwara no Kanesuke was a middle Heian waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu...
    
    
14. Fujiwara no Asatada
    Fujiwara no Asatada
    Fujiwara no Asatada was a middle Heian waka and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu.Asatada's poems are included in official poetry anthologies from the Gosen Wakashū on...
    
    
15. Fujiwara no Atsutada
    Fujiwara no Atsutada
    was a middle Heian waka and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu...
    
    
16. Fujiwara no Takamitsu
    Fujiwara no Takamitsu
    Fujiwara no Takamitsu was a middle Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. His father was Fujiwara no Morosuke, and his mother was Masako Nashin'no ....
    
    
17. Minamoto no Kintada
    Minamoto no Kintada
    Minamoto no Kintada was a middle Heian waka poet and nobleman. Along with his son Minamoto no Saneakira he is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals...
    
    
18. Mibu no Tadamine
    Mibu no Tadamine
    Mibu no Tadamine was an early Heian waka poet of the court , and a member of the sanjūrokkasen or Thirty-six Poetry Immortals...
    
    
19. Saigū no Nyōgo / Kishi Joō
    Kishi Joo
    Kishi Joō was a Japanese Waka poet from the middle of the middle Heian period. She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
20. Ōnakatomi no Yoritomo
    Onakatomi no Yoritomo
    Ōnakatomi no Yoritomo was a middle Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
21. Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
    Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
    Fujiwara no Toshiyuki was a middle Heian waka poet and Japanese nobleman...
    
    
22. Minamoto no Shigeyuki
    Minamoto no Shigeyuki
    Minamoto no Shigeyuki was an early Heian waka poet and nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu. His remaining works include a poetry collection known as the Shigeyukishū .- External links :*...
    
    
23. Minamoto no Muneyuki
    Minamoto no Muneyuki
    Minamoto no Muneyuki was an early Heian waka poet and nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals, and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu. His remaining works include a poetry collection known as the Muneyukishū .- External links :* in...
    
    
24. Minamoto no Saneakira
    Minamoto no Saneakira
    Minamoto no Saneakira was a middle Heian waka poet and nobleman. Along with his father Minamoto no Kintada he is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
25. Fujiwara no Kiyotada
    Fujiwara no Kiyotada
    was a Japanese poet, in particular one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. He is the second son of Fujiwara no Kanesuke, also one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. Though his mother is unknown Gosen Wakashū, an anthology of Japanese poems, contains the name the mother of Kiyotada . His elder...
    
    
26. Minamoto no Shitagō
    Minamoto no Shitago
    was a mid Heian waka poet, scholar and nobleman. He was the original compiler of the Wamyō Ruijushō, the first Japanese dictionary organized into semantic headings. He was designated as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals for his distinguished poetic accomplishments. In addition to the Wamyō...
    
    
27. Fujiwara no Okikaze
    Fujiwara no Okikaze
    was a middle Heian waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu....
    
    
28. Kiyohara no Motosuke
    Kiyohara no Motosuke
    was a Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. His daughter was the Heian poet and author Sei Shōnagon, famous today for writing The Pillow Book. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals, and one of his poems is included in the famous Ogura Hyakunin Isshu...
    
    
29. Sakanoue no Korenori
    Sakanoue no Korenori
    Sakanoue no Korenori was an early Heian waka poet. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu....
    
    
30. Fujiwara no Motozane
    Fujiwara no Motozane
    Fujiwara no Motozane was a middle Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
31. Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
    Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
    Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu was a middle Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. His granddaughter was the famous later Heian poetess Ise no Taiu...
    
    
32. Fujiwara no Nakafumi
    Fujiwara no Nakafumi
    Fujiwara no Nakafumi was a middle Heian waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
33. Taira no Kanemori
    Taira no Kanemori
    Taira no Kanemori was a middle Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu. He was a member of the Taira clan.Kanemori's poems are included in several official...
    
    
34. Mibu no Tadami
    Mibu no Tadami
    Mibu no Tadami was a middle Heian period waka poet and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals...
    
    
35. Kodai no Kimi
    Kodai no Kimi
    Kodai no Kimi was a Japanese Waka poet and noble from the middle Heian period. She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
36. Nakatsukasa
    Nakatsukasa
    Nakatsukasa was a Japanese Waka poet from the middle Heian period. Nakatsukasa was the granddaughter of Emperor Uda and the daughter of poet Lady Ise. She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals...
    
    

Thirty-six Female Poetry Immortals

, composed in the Kamakura period, refers to thirty-six female poetry immortals:

1. Ono no Komachi
   Ono no Komachi
   was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
   
   
2. Ise
   Lady Ise
   Lady Ise was a female Japanese poet in the Imperial court's waka tradition. She was born the Fujiwara no Tsugukage of Ise, and eventually became the lover of the Prince Atsuyoshi and a concubine to Emperor Uda; her son by him was Prince Yuki-Akari.Her poems were emblematic of the changing styles...
   
   
3. Nakatsukasa
   Nakatsukasa
   Nakatsukasa was a Japanese Waka poet from the middle Heian period. Nakatsukasa was the granddaughter of Emperor Uda and the daughter of poet Lady Ise. She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals...
   
   
4. Kishi Joō
   Kishi Joo
   Kishi Joō was a Japanese Waka poet from the middle of the middle Heian period. She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
   
   
5. Ukon
   Ukon (poet)
   — Japanese poetess of Heian period. She was also a lady-in-waiting of Onshi .She belonged to the Fujiwara clan. Her father was Fujiwara no Su'e nawa, the right lesser captain ....
   
   
6. Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha
7. Uma no Naishi
8. Akazome Emon
   Akazome Emon
   was a Japanese waka poet who lived in the mid-Heian period. She is a member both of the and the .-Biography:Emon is though to be the daughter of Akazome Tokimochi, but her biological father was likely her mother's first husband, Taira Kanemori. Emon was born before her mother's marriage to...
   
   
9. Izumi Shikibu
   Izumi Shikibu
   was a mid Heian period Japanese poet. She is a member of the . She was the contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, and Akazome Emon at the court of Joto Mon'in.-Early life:...
   
   
10. Kodai no Kimi
    Kodai no Kimi
    Kodai no Kimi was a Japanese Waka poet and noble from the middle Heian period. She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
11. Murasaki Shikibu
    Murasaki Shikibu
    Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012...
    
    
12. Koshikibu no Naishi
13. Ise no Taifu
14. Sei Shōnagon
    Sei Shonagon
    Sei Shōnagon , was a Japanese author and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi around the year 1000 during the middle Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Pillow Book .-Name:...
    
    
15. Daini no Sanmi
16. Takashina no Kishi
17. Yūshi Naishinnō-ke no Kii
18. Sagami
19. Shikishi Naishinnō
    Shikishi Naishinno
    Princess Shikishi was a medieval Japanese poet, who lived during the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. She was the third daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa . In 1159, Shikishi, who did not marry, went into service at the Kamo Shrine in Kyoto...
    
    
20. Kunai-kyō
21. Suō no Naishi
22. Fujiwara no Toshinari no Musume
23. Taiken Moin no Horikawa
24. Gishū Moin no Tango
25. Kayō Moin no Echizen
26. Nijō In no Sanuki
27. Kojijū
28. Gotoba In no Shimotsuke
29. Ben no Naiji
30. Go-Fukakusa In no Shōshōnaishi
31. Inpu Moin no Taifu
32. Tsuchimikado In no Kosaishō
33. Hachijō In no Takakura
34. Fujiwara no Chikako
35. Shikiken Moin no Mikushige
36. Sōheki Moin no Shōshō

New Thirty-six Poetry Immortals

There are at least two groups of Japanese poets called :

• One selected by Fujiwara no Mototoshi (Heian period
  Heian period
  The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
  
  )
• One including poets mainly of the Kamakura period
  Kamakura period
  The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
  
  ; who selected this is unknown.

The term usually refers to the second:

1. Emperor Go-Toba
   Emperor Go-Toba
   was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198....
   
   
2. Emperor Tsuchimikado
   Emperor Tsuchimikado
   was the 83rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Tsuchimikado's reign spanned the years from 1198 through 1210.-Genealogy:Before Tsuchimikado's ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was ....
   
   
3. Emperor Juntoku
   Emperor Juntoku
   was the 84th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1210 through 1221.-Genealogy:...
   
   
4. Emperor Go-Saga
   Emperor Go-Saga
   Emperor Go-Saga was the 88th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession...
   
   
5. Prince Masanari of Rokujō-no-Miya
6. Prince Munetaka
   Prince Munetaka
   Prince Munetaka was the sixth shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan who reigned .He was the first son of the Emperor Go-Saga and replaced the deposed Kujō Yoritsugu as shogun at the age of ten...
   
    of Kamakura-no-Miya
7. Prince Dōjonyūdō
8. Prince Shikishi
9. Kujō Yoshitsune
   Kujo Yoshitsune
   , son of regent Kanezane and a daughter of Fujiwara no Sueyuki, was a kugyō or Japanese court noble from the late Heian period to the early Kamakura period. He held a regent position Sesshō from 1202 to 1206. Kujō Michiie was his son....
   
   
10. Kujō Michiie
    Kujo Michiie
    Kujō Michiie was a Japanese regent in the 13th century. He was the father of Kujō Yoritsune and grandson of Kujō Kanezane . He was the father of Norizane and Yoritsune...
    
    
11. Saionji Kintsune
12. Koga Michiteru
13. Saionji Saneuji
14. Minamoto no Sanetomo
    Minamoto no Sanetomo
    Minamoto no Sanetomo was the third shogun of the Kamakura shogunate Sanetomo was the second son of the founder of the Kamakura shogunate Minamoto no Yoritomo, his mother was Hōjō Masako, and his older brother was the second Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoriie.His childhood name was...
    
    
15. Kujō Motoie
16. Fujiwara no Ienaga
17. Jien
    Jien
    Jien was a Japanese poet, historian, and Buddhist monk.-Biography:Jien was the son Fujiwara no Tadamichi, a member of the Fujiwara family of powerful aristocrats. He joined a Buddhist monastery of the Tendai sect early in his life, first taking the Buddhist name Dokaie, and later changing it to...
    
    
18. Gyōi
    Gyoi
    , son of Fujiwara no Motofusa, was a Japanese poet and Buddhist monk of the late Heian, early Kamakura periods. Also known as 山科僧正, he is a member of New Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
    
    
19. Horikawa Michitomo
20. Fujiwara no Sadaie
21. Kujō-in Takakura
22. Fujiwara no Toshinari no Musume
23. Go-Toba-in Kunaikyō
24. Sōheki Mon'in no Shōshō
25. Fujiwara no Tameie
    Fujiwara no Tameie
    was a Japanese poet and compiler of Imperial anthologies of poems.Tameie was the second son of poets Teika and Abutuni; and he was the central figure in a circle of Japanese poets after Jōkyū War in 1221. His three sons were Nijō Tameuji, Kyōgoku Tamenori and Reizei Tamesuke...
    
    
26. Asukai Masatsune
27. Fujiwara no Ietaka
28. Fujiwara no Tomoie
29. Fujiwara no Ariie
30. Hamuro Motsutoshi
31. Fujiwara no Nobuzane
32. Minamoto no Tomochika
33. Fujiwara no Takasuke
34. Minamoto no Ienaga
35. Kamo no Chōmei
    Kamo no Chomei
    was a Japanese author, poet , and essayist. He witnessed a series of natural and social disasters, and, having lost his political backing, was passed over for promotion within the Shinto shrine associated with his family. He decided to turn his back on society, take Buddhist vows, and became a...
    
    
36. Fujiwara no Hideyoshi

External links

• Poem Scroll of Thirty-six Immortal Poets