The greatest honour a poet could aspire to was to have his or her poetry included in an poetry anthology compiled at the command of an emperor, or retired emperor. There are twenty-one of these, but the initial eight anthologies, collectively known as the hachidaishū 八代集 in Japanese, are the most famous. Together with the earlier eighth century Man’yōshū poetry anthology, they form the core of the canon of classical Japanese poetry. The remaining thirteen anthologies, the jūsandaishū 十三代集, mostly reflect the more polarised poetic world in Japan from the thirteenth century, including poems by poets from one school, and excluding those from others.

No.	Title	Year	Commissioned by	Compilers	Preface	No. of Vols.	No. of Poems
1	Kokinshū	905	Daigo	Ki no Tomonori Ki no Tsurayuki Ōshikōchi no Mitsune Mibu no Tamine	Kana Pref. Mana Pref.	20	1100
2	Gosenshū	957-959	Murakami	Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu Kiyowara no Motosuke Minamoto no Shitagō Ki no Tokifumi Sakanoue no Mochiki	No	20	1425
3	Shūishū	1005-07	Kazan	Kazan Fujiwara no Kintō	No	20	1351
4	Goshūishū	1086	Shirakawa	Fujiwara no Michitoshi	Kana Pref.	20	1218
5	Kin’yōshū	1126	Shirakawa	Minamoto no Toshiyori (Shunrai)	No	10	650
6	Shikashū	1151	Sutoku	Fujiwara no Akisuke	No	10	415
7	Senzaishū	1188	Goshirakawa	Fujiwara no Toshinari (Shunzei)	Kana Pref.	20	1288
8	Shinkokinshū	1205	Gotoba	Minamoto no Michitomo Fujiwara no Ari’ie Fujiwara no Sada’ie (Teika) Fujiwara no Ietaka Asukai Masatsune Jakuren	Kana Pref. Mana Pref.	20	1978
9	Shinchokusenshū	1235	Gohorikawa	Fujiwara no Sada’ie (Teika)	Kana Pref.	20	1374
10	Shokugosenshū	1251	Gosaga	Fujiwara no Tame’ie	No	20	1371
11	Shokukokinshū	1265	Gosaga	Fujiwara no Tame’ie Fujiwara no Moto’ie Fujiwara no Yuki’ie Fujiwara no Mitsutoshi Fujiwara no Ieyoshi	Kana Pref. Mana Pref.	20	1915
12	Shokushūishū	1278	Kameyama	Nijō Tame’uji	No	20	1459
13	Shingosenshū	1303	Go’uda	Nijō Tameyo	No	20	1607
14	Gyokuyōshū	1312	Fushimi	Kyōgoku Tamekane	No	20	2800
15	Shokusenzaishū	1320	Go’uda	Nijō Tameyo	No	20	2143
16	Shokugoshūishū	1326	Godaigo	Nijō Tamefuji Nijō Tamesada	No	20	1353
17	Fūgashū	1349	Hanazono Kōgon	Kōgon	Kana Pref. Mana Pref.	20	2211
18	Shinsenzaishū	1359	Gokōgon	Nijō Tamesada	No	20	2365
19	Shinshūishū	1364	Gokōgon	Nijō Tame’aki Ton’a	No	20	1920
20	Shingoshūishū	1384	Goen’yū	Nijō Tametō Nijō Tameshige	Kana Pref	20	1554
21	Shinshoku kokinshū	1439	Gohanazono	Asukai Masayo	Kana Pref. Mana Pref.	20	2144