The Six Immortals of Poetry (六歌仙 Rokkasen) were famous poets of Waka

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

 in the early Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 of Japanese history. They were:

• Henjo
  Henjo
  Sōjō Henjō was a Japanese waka poet and Buddhist priest. His birth name was Yoshimine no Munesada...
  
  
• Ariwara no Narihira
  Ariwara no Narihira
  was a Japanese waka poet and aristocrat. He was one of six waka poets referred in the preface in kana to Kokin Wakashū by Ki no Tsurayuki, and has been named as the hero of The Tales of Ise, whose hero was an anonym in itself but most of whose love affairs could be attributed to Narihira.He was the...
  
  
• Fun'ya no Yasuhide
  Fun'ya no Yasuhide
  was an early Heian period poet, included in the Rokkasen and in the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. He attained upper sixth rank.Included in the Kokinshūs Kanajō , Yasuhide is described as "Yasuhide used words skillfully, but his words do not match the content...
  
  
• Kisen
  Kisen
  also known as was an early Heian period and poet. Little is known about his life other than that he lived in Ujiyama.When Ki no Tsurayuki wrote the of the Kokinshū, he selected Kisen as one of the whose work was to be considered as superior. Tsurayuki says the following to comment on Kisen's...
  
  
• Ono no Komachi
  Ono no Komachi
  was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....
  
  
• Ōtomo Kuronushi
  Otomo Kuronushi
  was a Japanese poet, one of the Rokkasen, the "Six Poetic Geniuses" described in the Kokin Wakashū, a classical poetic anthology.-References:*Papinot, Edmond . Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha....
  
  

This list of poets was composed by Ki no Tsurayuki

Ki no Tsurayuki

was a Japanese author, poet and courtier of the Heian period.Tsurayuki was a son of Ki no Mochiyuki. He became a waka poet in the 890s. In 905, under the order of Emperor Daigo, he was one of four poets selected to compile the Kokin Wakashū, an anthology of poetry.After holding a few offices in...

 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

Thirty-six Poetry Immortals

The Thirty-six Poetry Immortals are a group of Japanese poets of the Nara, Asuka and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. There are five female poets among them...

 and the group of one hundred poets included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu

Hyakunin Isshu

is a traditional anthology style of compiling Japanese waka poetry where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology. Literally, it translates to "one hundred people, one poem [each]"...

. While all six appear in the Kokin Wakashū, all but one, Ōtomo Kuronushi, appear in the Hyakunin Isshu.