Born in 1719 as the second son of Kawakami Gorosaku, a retainer of the Kii-Shingu Domain. Known as Umenosuke in childhood and Hikobei generally. At 16 he became an inner disciple of Nyoshinsai, the seventh head of Omotesenke tea school, mastering its arts. Around the Horeki era (1750s) he was dispatched to Edo by his master to teach tea to samurai and townsmen. This Edo branch of Omotesenke later became independent as Edo Senke, with Fuhaku as its founder. Also at home in haiku, he exchanged many verses with the Bashoan lineage of Edo haiku circles. In his later years he built a hermitage in Negishi, Edo, completing a life of tea and poetry. He died in 1807 at 89. His works include the haiku 'The moon is old — before the god, the great ginkgo' on the great ginkgo of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.

Gentle and learned, he mastered not only tea but also haiku and waka — a model Edo-period man of letters. He treated disciples without discrimination, spreading tea to both samurai and townsfolk.

As founder of Edo Senke, he left a major mark on the spread of tea in Edo. His lineage continues today, and his grave stands in Negishi, Tokyo. He is also revered as a cultured man who fused tea and haiku.