Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses

The Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (三十六歌仙^?, Sanjūrokkasen) are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The eldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is Nishi Honganji Sanjū-rokunin Kashu ("Nishi Honganji 36 poets collection") of 1113. There are five female poets among them. Similar groups of Japanese poets include the Kamakura period Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen (女房三十六歌仙), composed by court ladies exclusively, and the Chūko Sanjūrokkasen (中古三十六歌仙^?), or Thirty-Six Heian-era Immortals of Poetry, selected by Fujiwara no Norikane 藤原範兼 (1107–1165). This list superseded an older group called the Six Immortals of Poetry.

Sets of portraits (essentially imaginary) of the group were popular in Japanese painting and later woodblock prints, and often hung in temples.

Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen (女房三十六歌仙^?), composed in the Kamakura period, refers to thirty-six female immortals of poetry:

There are at least two groups of Japanese poets called New Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (新三十六歌仙^?, Shinsanjūrokkasen):

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