Fuhaku KAWAKAMI was the second son of a retainer of the daimyo who served the Mizuno family in the Shingu clan of Kii Province (Kishu); under the recommendation of Tadaaki Mizuno, then the head of the family, he was able to enter the school of Joshinsai, the seventh master of Omotesenke, and establish himself in chado (the way of tea).
川上不白は元は紀州紀伊新宮藩水野家に仕える藩士の次男で、当主水野忠昭の勧めにより表千家7代如心斎の門に入り茶道で身を立てることになった。