Saruya is a rest area located in the Shimogamo Shrine grounds. It is said that there used to be an ice house (a place where snow and ice stored in winter are kept until summer) next to the O-tamidono Hall in the precincts of Shimogamo-jinja Shrine. Following the ancient ritual of the ice house in midsummer, the shaved ice served at Saruya is named "ice from the Kamo ice house," and is made of dense, hard ice that contains as few impurities as possible. The ice is cut thinly and finely with a blade, and melts softly in the mouth like the first snow.