Culture nurtured by a tea master
Along with Kyoto and Kanazawa, Matsue is known for its culture of ”wagashi” or Japanese confectionary.
This comes as no surprise as Matsue is the castle town that is home to the tea master of the Edo period, Prince Fumai Matsudaira.
As Price Fumai gained success as a tea master, excellent ”wagashi” were invented in the castle town, and became known as “Fumai’s preference”.
Saiundo is one of the ”wagashi” stores representing Matsue. Tsugio Itami, consultant for Saiundo, began making ”wagashi” when he was 16, and is a certified ”food meister” by the Minister of Agriculture and ”Modern Master Craftsman” by the Minister of Labor.
Reflecting the expressions of the seasons
Since Saiundo is a popular shop, they make 10,000 pieces of ”wagashi” per day. But most are made carefully by hand not depending on machinery.
Same care is incorporated when making “wakakusa”, one of “Fumai’s preference”. In Fumai’s book of instructions for tea ceremony “Twelve Month of Tea Gathering”, “wakakusa” is indicated as the main sweets in a spring tea room. “Wakakusa” is made from soft and rich textured “gyuhi” made with rice flour, and sprinkled with flakes of sweet green flour made from cooked glutinous rice.
Extra care and attention is given to creating the best ”gyuhi” using the best glutinous rice from Nita of the Okuizumo area which is soaked in water and ground by stone mill to produce the flour. The process of sprinkling sweet green flour made from cooked glutinous rice on each of the prepared “gyuhi” is also done by hand. It must be done by hand by a skilled craftsman in order to maintain the proper softness according to each season.
It may be nice to relax with some ”wagashi” in between walks through the castle town, or to participate in a “wagashi making class” to create lasting memories of the trip as Nakata has done. ”Wagashi” can also be ordered before visiting Matsue. Saiundo is a shop with many enjoyable options.
