“Wakakusa” is one of the signature traditional Japanese sweets of Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. Closely associated with Matsudaira Fumai, the seventh lord of the Matsue domain and a celebrated tea master, Wakakusa has become a beloved confection that represents Matsue’s rich tea ceremony culture.
The name is traditionally said to come from a poem composed by Fumai. Its vivid green color is also perfectly suited to the name “Wakakusa,” which means “young grass,” evoking the fresh greenery and renewal of spring. The confection is an elegant expression of the season and the refined aesthetics of Japanese tea culture.
Matsudaira Fumai was not only a lord of the Matsue domain during the Edo period but also a devoted practitioner of tea ceremony who became an influential tea master. In “Cha-ji Junigetsu”, a work outlining his ideas and practices concerning tea ceremony throughout the year, Wakakusa is listed as a seasonal main sweet for spring tea gatherings.
In a Japanese tea ceremony, a omogashi is the principal sweet served alongside matcha. Because seasonality is an essential part of the tea ceremony, Wakakusa was regarded as a confection that beautifully expressed the arrival of spring.
Over the course of many years, the traditional techniques used to make Wakakusa were eventually lost, and the original method of preparation was no longer known.
The confection was brought back to life by Saiundo, a long-established confectionery shop in Matsue. In the mid-Meiji period, the shop’s first-generation owner, Zen’emon, researched the confection using stories and traditions passed down by elderly residents and tea masters. Through this work, he is said to have successfully revived Wakakusa, a sweet regarded as one of Fumai’s preferred confections.
Saiundo was founded in 1874, during the Meiji period, and is one of Matsue’s best-known traditional confectionery makers. Against the backdrop of the city’s deeply rooted tea culture, the shop has continued to produce traditional Japanese sweets for generations.
Wakakusa is more than simply a confection. Its revival has helped preserve the tea culture of the former Matsue domain and the aesthetic sensibilities associated with Matsudaira Fumai. The story of reconstructing its traditional flavor through old records and oral traditions is an important part of the appeal of this historic sweet.
Matsue has a distinctive culture in which matcha and traditional Japanese sweets are enjoyed in everyday life. This tradition is closely connected to the tea culture cultivated by Matsudaira Fumai, and Wakakusa is one of the signature sweets through which visitors can experience this history.
The name Wakakusa, once associated with spring tea gatherings, reflects the Japanese tea tradition of expressing the beauty of the changing seasons through sweets. When visiting Matsue, tasting Wakakusa offers a memorable way to connect the city’s traditional confectionery culture with the legacy of the celebrated tea master Fumai.