The Thirty-Six Immortal Women Poets (女房三十六歌仙, Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen) is a canon of Japanese poets who were anthologized in the middle Kamakura period. The compiler and exact date of the canon's construction is unknown,[1] but its reference is subsequently noted in the Gunsho Ruijū, volume 13.[2]
Five of the 36, Ono no Komachi, Lady Ise, Nakatsukasa, Saigū no Nyōgo and Kodai no Kimi also appeared in an earlier anthology with the similar title Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry which dates from 1113 (late Heian Period). The poet Fujiwara no Kintō chose this original selection that preceded the Thirty-Six Immortal Women Poets.[3]
These five women poets from the original publication were included in the Thirty-Six Immortal Women Poets and canonized along with others from the Heian and Kamakura eras.