Six best Waka poets

The Six Immortals of Poetry (六歌仙 Rokkasen) were famous poets of Waka in the early Heian period of Japanese history. They were:

• Henjo
• Ariwara no Narihira
• Fun'ya no Yasuhide
• Kisen
• Ono no Komachi
• Ōtomo Kuronushi

This list of poets was composed by Ki no Tsurayuki in the preface of the Imperial anthology, the Kokin Wakashū (905), who then proceeds to critique their style individually. The title "immortals of waka" (歌仙 kasen) was given to them later. In time, this list was superseded by later groupings which included the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals and the group of one hundred poets included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. While all six appear in the Kokin Wakashū, all but one, Ōtomo Kuronushi, appear in the Hyakunin Isshu.

References

• Japanese Wikipedia