Lit. "thirty-six immortal poets." Imaginary portraits of the 36 outstanding poets from the 7th to 10th centuries selected by Fujiwara no Kintō 藤原公任 (966-1041). While Kintō's original anthology has been lost, his selection provided the model for the compendium Sanjūrokuninshū 三十六人集 (Anthologies of The Thirty-six Poets), of which the exquisitely decorated paper and calligraphy make the 12th-century Nishihonganji 西本願寺 version one of the most important extant works of Heian design and calligraphy now partially dispersed in various collections.
In painting, the earliest existing portrayal of the poetic genii is the 13th-century handscroll, Sanjūrokkasen emaki 三十六歌仙絵巻, known as the Satake 佐竹 version after the former owner (now fragmented and in various collections). It is a work in the *kasen-e 歌仙絵 tradition that arose at the same time as the interest in realistic portraiture *nise-e 似絵 in the late 12th century. The second oldest version is the Agedatami 上畳 version (also fragmented and in various collections) produced in the early 13th century, which takes its title from the *tatami 畳 mat dais on which each poet is placed. In these handscrolls, text with a brief biography of each figure and a representative poem are placed to the right of each figure which is depicted with realistic detail as if a portrait although none are based on sketches from life. The 36 immortal poets were often depicted on votive tablets *ema 絵馬 during the Muromachi and Momoyama periods, usually in sets of 36. Each portrait was inscribed with a representative poem. In the Edo period, Ogata Kōrin 尾形光琳 (1658-1716) painted a two-fold screen of the thirty-six immortal poets in which all 36 poets are grouped together and humorously endowed with exaggerated expressions (Private Collection). This version where the poems no longer are written, inspired copies by many *Rinpa 琳派 artist.
The 36 immortal poets are: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro 柿本人麿 (see *Hitomaro-zō 人麿像); Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之; Ōshikōchi no Mitsune 凡河内躬恒; Ise 伊勢; Ōtomo no Yakamochi 大伴家持; Yamabe no Akahito 山部赤人; Ariwara no Narihira 在原業平 (see *Ise monogatari-e 伊勢物語絵); Henjō Sōjō 遍照僧正 (Bishop Henjō); Sosei Hōshi 素性法師 (the priest Sosei); Ki no Tomonori 紀友則; Sarumaru Dayū 猿丸太夫; Ono no Komachi 小野小町 (see *nanakomachi 七小町); Fujiwara no Kanesuke 藤原兼輔; Fujiwara no Asatada 藤原朝忠; Fujiwara no Atsutada 藤原敦忠; Fujiwara no Takamitsu 藤原高光; Minamoto no Kintada 源公忠; Mibu no Tadamine 壬生忠岑; Saigū no Nyōgo 斎宮女御; Ōnakatomi no Yorimoto 大中臣頼基; Fujiwara no Toshiyuki 藤原敏行; Minamoto no Shigeyuki 源重之; Minamoto no Muneyuki 源宗于; Minamoto no Saneakira 源信明; Fujiwara no Nakafumi 藤原仲文; Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu 大中臣能宣; Mibu no Tadami 壬生忠見; Taira no Kanemori 平兼盛; Fujiwara no Kiyotada 藤原清忠; Minamoto no Shitagō 源順; Fujiwara no Okikaze 藤原興風; Kiyohara no Motosuke 清原元輔; Sakanoue no Korenori 坂上是則; Fujiwara no Motozane 藤原元真; Kodai no Kimi 小大君; and Nakatsukasa 中務.