Kisen

Kisen (喜撰) also known as Kisen Hōshi (喜撰法師) was an early Heian period Buddhist monk (僧, sō) and poet. Little is known about his life other than that he lived in Ujiyama.

When Ki no Tsurayuki wrote the Japanese preface (仮名序, kanajo) of the Kokinshū, he selected Kisen as one of the six poetic sages (六歌仙, rokkasen) whose work was to be considered as superior. Tsurayuki says the following to comment on Kisen's work.

Kisen is sometimes said to be the author of the poetry collection waka sakushiki (倭歌作式) (also known as the kisen-shiki (喜撰式)), but it is probably apocryphal and created well after the end of the Heian period.

The following two eika (詠歌) of Kisen are the only poems that can be confidently traced back to him.

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