Sanjurokkasen 三十六歌仙 / The Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses

List of outstanding Japanese poets from the time of the poetry anthology Man'yoshu (759) to the end of the 10th century. It was based on an anthology, which no longer exists, known as the Sanjurokunin sen (Selection of Thirty-Six Poets), compiled in the early 11th century by Fujiwara no Kinto and inspired by the earlier group of the Six Poetic Geniuses (Rokkasen). The list includes such poets as Ariwara no Narihira, Bishop Henjo, Fujiwara no Kanesuke, Ki no Tsurayuki, Ono no Komachi, Otomo no Yakamochi, and Yamabe no Akahito. The chief importance of the list is that it led in the mid-11th century to the making or remaking of personal poetry collections (shikashu) for all of the 36 poets, thus helping to preserve their work.