Mari Kono holds up her original “Tempura Uni.” T-shirt at her boutique, Mari-yeah!!
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About six years ago, just as Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) relocated to its current home in Setagaya City, Tokyo, local entrepreneur Mari Kono opened her boutique in the nearby Sangenjaya Sakae Dori shopping street. One of her creations, a parody “Tempura* University” T-shirt inspired by Temple, quickly became the shop’s best-selling original item and an emblem of the playful connection between TUJ and its neighborhood.
*Tempura is a Japanese dish of typically seafood or vegetables coated in batter and deep-fried until crisp.
Her boutique, Mari-yeah!! Sangenjaya, offers a mix of original apparel, accessories, postcards, pins, and other goods. Among the highlights are her rock-inspired T-shirts featuring bands like the Rolling Stones, Oasis, and Sonic Youth. Kono’s musical roots shine through her designs and she is also the singer and guitarist of the long-running three-piece all women’s rock band TsuShiMaMiRe, which has been in action since 1999.
This summer, the band will head to the U.S. for a tour beginning in Volente, Texas, with a stop in Philadelphia, the home of TUJ’s main campus, for a show at MilkBoy in September. In March, the band was the opening act of acclaimed American rock musician Jack White in Tokyo. Following the U.S. leg, it will continue on to Europe in November with concerts in Copenhagen, Cologne, Stuttgart, and beyond.
Special Closeness with Students
Kono said she feels a special closeness with TUJ students, many of whom regularly visit her shop and chat with her in a friendly way. “Temple students who come here are all so cheerful and kind. They’re such good kids,” Kono said. “I always think I’d like to get along with them more as I interact with them. When they walk in and look at our goods, they’ll say things like ‘Oh my God, so cute,’ and that’s when I realize they must be Temple students.”
As Temple students became regulars at her shop, Kono often found herself thinking about the university and eventually came up with the idea for the parody T-shirt. “As students frequently visited my shop, I kept thinking, oh, Temple University. I’ve always loved puns, so one day I just sketched ‘Tempura University’ in my notebook as a little joke,” she recalled.
“I thought it would be funny if students at ‘Tempura University’ were studying tempura really hard,” Kono continued. “I even scanned that pencil sketch into my computer at some point. At first it was just a silly scribble, but then I thought maybe one day I could put it up to make Temple students laugh. It was just a playful idea. I designed it myself, then asked a printing company to make the shirts and that’s how it all started.”
Part of Local Community
Kono first created sweatshirts in the autumn of last year, later expanding the same design into pin badges and postcards. Among her originally apparel, the “Tempura University” T-shirts has been the top seller. She is even considering designing a new Temple-inspired shirt in the future, drawing on her imagination and the connections she continues to build with Temple students and the wider Temple community.
Through conversations with customers and fellow shop owners along Sakae Doori shopping street, Kono has come to realize just how positively Temple is viewed and how naturally it has become part of the local community. She said that the area feels increasingly international and suspects other shop owners would agree that the street loses some of its vibrancy whenever Temple students are away.
“I can manage to speak English, but I’m not exactly fluent,” Kono said. “So when we talk with the students, it’s both a good learning experience and it’s also a lot of fun. I’m really happy we’ve been able to build such a friendly relationship with them. That’s why, when Temple students are away on summer vacation, it feels a little lonely. The whole neighborhood seems quieter without them.”
Temple’s Growth
TUJ moved to Setagaya City into a brand-new building adjunct to Showa Women’s University in 2019. TUJ remarkable expansion in enrollment, new academic curriculum and partnership with local governments and academic institutions over the recent years are making even more intense bond in the local community in Setagaya in Temple’s neighborhood.
Since moving to the Sangenjaya district of Setagaya, TUJ has been actively involved in a series of academic programs and cross-cultural events with local residents and students on a regular basis. In December 2022 TUJ and Setagaya City agreed to establish a formal comprehensive cooperative relationship to deepen collaboration on projects that promote cross-cultural communication and international understanding. Under this partnership, TUJ provides English summer programs for elementary, junior high, and high school students in the city, along with regular English classes for adults at the Setagaya Municipal Education Center. TUJ students regularly take part in local festivals and language exchange activities with residents.
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