According to the Nihon Kiryaku (Abstracted Records of Japan), Michizane gave two volumes of "Shinsen Manyoshu" (anthology of Japanese poems) to Emperor Uda, and it is generally believed that Michizane paired waka (Japanese poems) created by Emperor Uda and a version of these waka poems translated into Chinese poems and compiled them into these "Shinsen Manyoshu," which are still in existence, but some do not think Michizane was the editor/compiler.
日本紀略に寛平5年（893年）、宇多天皇に『新撰万葉集』2巻を奉ったとあり、現存する、宇多天皇の和歌とそれを漢詩に翻案したものを対にして編纂した『新撰万葉集』2巻の編者と一般にはみなされるが、これを道真の編としない見方もある。