Three sub-categories are covered under the umbrella term "poetry circles of the Kyogoku school": 1) members of the Kyogoku family itself, a family famous for its waka production (this would also include the Reizei family, since at this point it had not yet split away and become independent), 2) gatherings of poets who had adopted the Kyogoku poetic style, and 3) the literary salon at Emperor Fushimi's court; each of these aspects reinforced the other until the overall entity took shape as something that could be called 'the Kyogoku school.'
京極派歌壇には、(1)歌の家としての京極家（および当時はまだ一家を成すにいたっていなかった冷泉家）、(2)京極派歌風を信奉する歌人たちの集まり、(3)伏見院宮廷における文学サロンの三つの面があり、それぞれが互いに重なりあいつつ全体として「京極派」と呼ぶべきものをかたちづくっている。