Lit. "paintings of Teika's poems of the flowers and birds of the twelve months." According to his diary Meigetsuki 明月記, in 1214 the poet Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (also read Sadaie, 1162-1241) was requested to write a series of poems on birds and flowers to be inscribed on paintings of the same theme.
The flowers and birds are : 1 first month, willow yanagi 柳 and warbler uguisu 鴬; 2 second month, cherry sakura 桜 and pheasant kiji 雉; 3 third month, wisteria uji 藤 and skylark hibari 雲雀; 4 forth month, deutzia unohana 卯の花 and cuckoo hototogisu 時鳥; 5 fifth month, orange tachibana 橘 and water-rail kuina 水鶏; 6 sixth month, pinks nadeshiko 撫子 and cormorant u 鵜; 7 seventh month, maiden flower ominaehi 女郎花 and magpie kasasagi 鵲; 8 eighth month, bush-clover hagi 萩 and wild goose hatsukari 初雁; 9 ninth month, miscanthus susuki 薄 and quail uzura 鶉; 10 tenth month, chrysanthemum kiku 菊 and cranes tsuru 鶴; 11 eleventh month, loquat biwa 枇杷 and plovers chidori 千鳥; and 12 twelfth month, early plum sōbai 早梅 and mandarin ducks mizutori 水鳥.
The renewed interest in Teika during the 17th century led to the production of numerous paintings based on these previously little-known poems found in the Shūigusō 拾遺愚草, the anthology of Teika's poetry. The theme was first painted by Tosa Mitsuoki 土佐光起 (1617-91) in a pair of handscrolls (Tokyo National Museum), and later rendered in sets of hanging scrolls and screen compositions by Kano Tan'yū 狩野探幽 (1602-74; Univ. of Michigan, Idemitsu 出光, Fujita 藤田 Museum). Sets of ceramic plates by Ogata Kenzan 尾形乾山 (1663-1743, MOA, Idemitsu, LACMA), and small paintings on the theme are best known.