Student Life in Kyoto: Iyemon Salon & Valentines Day in Japan

After spending some hours at a nearby Este (beauty saloon) me and Maho decided to check out a cafe in the area close to Shijyo-kawaramachi called Iyemon Salon. Iyemon is a company well known for their japanese tea, which is being sold all over Japan, and in addition to this they also have some cafés in for instance Kyoto and Tokyo.

Maho in front of Iyemon Salon. This particular café was actually awarded with the title Best Store of Kyoto 2009. In addition to having good tea combined with a warm and nice environment, it also provided us with shelter from the weather, which was kind of bad.

Iyemon Salon

In addition to the great atmosphere in the cafe, they also have a nice Japanese garden. This picture is taken from the window by our table. Bad weather is always nice when you can sit inside a warm room and look at it from behind the glass:)

The waitress bringing us tea and cake!

The cafe is not exactly cheap though.. This set consisting of two small japanese cakes and a cup of tea costed a little over 1000 yen.

From the seats you have a clear view of the kitchen area of the café

The view towards the entrance.

Even the design in the bathroom was so nice, I just had to take a picture of it! Haha.. It felt more like being in a fancy hotel than an ordinary café.

Some more details from the café.

By the entrance they are selling Iyemon products too, so if you want to bring some traditional tea with you home I guess you can find it here. Beware the prices though! I did not really look at them, but something tells me they aren´t cheap :p..

(The adress of the café is: 80 Ogura-cho, Karasuma Nishiiru, Sanjo-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Chiso Bdg 1F, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture 604-8166, Japan)

Valentines Day in Japan

Like many other countries, Japan tends to copy American traditions and make them into their own. Valentines Day is no different; it is quite popular, and possibly the time of the year when Japanese people eat the most chocolate.

Cause in Japan it is not that common with flowers or valentines cards. Instead there is a tradition for girls to give guys chocolate on Valentines Day. For this reason, the shops are filled with fancy boxes with small, overpriced chocolates.

In addition to Valentines Day, they also have a so-called "White Day" one month later, where the guys give chocolates back to the girls who gave them chocolate if they fancy them (or just to be nice).

Sweet Valentines Day chocolates in typical Japanese kawaii-style. In the days (or rather weeks) before Valentines Day both the department stores and the normal grocery stores are filled with chocolates in all shapes and sizes.

I guess my Valentines Day ended up being a mix between the Eastern and the Western Valentines Day: Giving chocolate and getting a rose in return.

The dinner in an expensive Okinawa-style restaurant was also a nice experience, though the food (according to Yuma) wasn´t exactly like real Okinawa food, and the amount of food we received was so little we ended up going to a cheap ramen-restaurant afterwards. Haha..! It was great though (more thanks to the company than the food)!! <3

About Anette
Anette came to Japan as an exchange student in 2010, met the love of her life and got stuck. From her base in Tokyo she writes about her experiences as a full-time worker in Tokyo and about her travels in Japan and abroad. She's a free-spirited adventurer who enjoys both the great outdoors and her urban lifestyle.