First of all, welcome everyone!

KEYWORDS HERE: tea, scones, jam, afternoon tea, relaxing, making friends, Tokyo, Japan, hotels, Darjeeling, Assam, Earl Grey, clotted cream ... :)

Afternoon tea club is an idea which started when I lived in Singapore... which is far from the UK, my home country, but with a lot of British traditions, since it was a British colony until 1965, e.g. cricket, speaking English, tea... I tried holding an afternoon tea in Singapore a couple of times with great success. With this in mind, I thought I would try the same in Tokyo. It's been great fun and I promise I can recommend you all the best places to have tea here. I've tried them all :)

I love Tokyo and love afternoon tea and simply want to bring people together who share the same interests and enjoy meeting nice people, sitting in nice cafes and hotels, enjoying 3 hours on the weekend, usually Sunday afternoon, drinking tea, enjoying scones and cakes and making new friends.

So basically here's answers to some FAQ:

1. Can I come if I am a student/housewife? What ages of people usually come?

Usually, the average age is 25-35, young working adults in Tokyo, but we've had students and people aged 80 before. I don't want to say no to anyone who would enjoy it. If you feel more comfortable around people your own age, please feel free to bring your friends as well.

2. How many people usually come?

The record is 67 people !! That was more like a wedding than a tea party and since it was 2 hours, I had about 2 minutes with each guest... I prefer a little fewer people to be honest, but average number so far has been around 30-35 people. It depends on a lot of things - time of year (people going on holiday etc.), location, timing, cost I suppose. But if 30 people come, that's perfect and 40 is okay. More than that and I will need more help :P

3. Is it OK if I don't speak English ?

もちろん大丈夫です！It's no problem because I personally speak Japanese and most guests are Japanese so I don't want anyone to worry about it. Some people think the afternoon tea club is an English speaking group... well it's not the main intention but since some foreign people come, I can sit them with Japanese people who want to speak English if they like.

4. Nationalities / genders of people who come?

Well since Japan is 99% Japanese, not surprisingly, most guests are Japanese! BUT we have had THAI, FRENCH, GERMAN, KOREAN, CHINESE, BRITISH, AMERICAN and everyone is welcome. Also, tea seems to be seen as a "female" thing but personally, although from a male point of view, I don't mind, since there are usually mostly women who come (80-85%), they sometimes say to me "Bring more guys!!". So I will try and improve the balance in future :)

5. Cost?

I do my best to negotiate very good deals and I think I've done a good job so far. Basically, I like to negotiate the following with the hotel/restaurant we use for the tea:

* Price per head, including all taxes/service. This ranges from 3000-5000 yen per head, which may seem quite a lot, but considering we are getting a special menu and it probably replaces lunch AND dinner on that day, I think it's not bad.

* Free flow of tea for 2 or even 3 hours

* Little extras I try to include, such as viewing the rooms in a new hotel or something else like that!

I hope this gives you more of an idea !
Here are some of the places we have used so far: (not in order)

Park Hyatt Hotel,
Four Seasons Hotel Chinzanso (twice)
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Conrad Hotel
Grand Hyatt Hotel
St. Christophers (Jiyugaoka Cafe)
Mariage Freres (Ginza)
Pan Pacific Hotel (Yokohama)
Elgar House (Meguro)