The Keien school was a conservative school which valued tradition such as innocuous "Kokin Wakashu" (A Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry) against venturous modern tanka which was coming into fashion at that time.
桂園派は、当時流行しつつあった冒険的な近代短歌に対して、当たり障りのない『古今和歌集』などの伝統を重んじる保守的な流派である。