Saionji Kintsune (西園寺公経; 1171 – 1244) was a waka poet and Japanese nobleman active in the early Kamakura period. He is designated as a member of the New Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (新三十六歌仙, Shin Sanjūrokkasen).
He was also a major contributor to the Shinchokusen Wakashū anthology.
In 1222 AD, he was appointed as the Chancellor of the Realm, and he later entered in religion in 1231 AD.
Poetry
In the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, he is called the Lay Buddhist Novice and former Chancellor of the Realm (入道前太政大臣, Nyudō Saki no Daijō-daijin). The ninety-sixth poem reads:
花さそふ嵐の庭の雪ならで ふりゆくものは我が身なりけり
hana sasou arashi no niwa no yuki naradefuriyuku mono wa waga mi narikeri(Shinchokusen Wakashū 13:1054)