2026 Japan Brontë Society Day Public Lecture in Tokyo

 An alert from the Japan Brontë Society

2026 Brontë Day Public Lecture Programme 

Saturday, 6 June 2026, 14:00–16:10

Waseda University, Toyama Campus, Building 38, AV Classroom 1

Chair: Professor Manami Tamura, Nihon University

Opening remarks (14:00): Yumiko Hirono, President of the Japan Brontë Society / Vice Dean, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto University

Lecture I (14:05–15:00)

Charlotte Brontë's Autobiographical Novels — Eri Mabuchi, Associate Professor, Osaka University

After surveying Charlotte's early works and tracing the path that led her to the autobiographical form, this lecture examines the innovations found in Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853) and what they reveal about her creative consciousness.

Lecture II (15:10–16:05)

Charlotte Brontë and Embodied Vision: From the Camera Obscura to the Camera*— Masumichi Kanaya, Professor, Faculty of Letters / Director, Institute for Liberal Arts and General Education, Doshisha University

Against the historical backdrop of shifting conceptions of vision in the 19th century, this lecture traces the transition from camera obscura-style vision to a vision dependent on bodily conditions, and examines how this manifests in Charlotte Brontë's works.

Closing remarks (16:05): Michiko Kurisu, Former President of the Japan Brontë Society / Professor Emeritus, Daito Bunka University