In this contest, the poets of the Heian period (from ONO no Komachi through Sagami) were deployed on the left-hand side and the poets of the beginning of the medieval period (from Imperial Princess Shokushi through Sohekimon-in no Shosho) were deployed on the right-hand side, and then three poems were selected per poet to have them compete against each other.
左方に小野小町から相模までの中古歌人を、右方に式子内親王から藻壁門院少将までの中世初頭の歌人を配し、一人三首ずつ対戦させる形式。