On the 25th of August, the Parsonage was visited by three important members of the Brontë Society of Japan: Itsuyo Shimizu, President of the Society; Professor Uchida, emeritus professor, Osaka University; and Mrs Tanaka, the translator. The group, which numbered fifteen in total, returned to the Parsonage on the 26th and was welcomed by Ann Dinsdale, who showed them some of the Society’s new acquisitions, as well as the ‘little book’ on loan from Paris. The group showed particular fondness for highly personal objects such as Emily’s comb and Anne’s crossed letters. They also admired their own newly translated Japanese edition of Sarah Fermi’s book, Emily’s Journal, which was on sale in the shop.
Then the group travelled down to Cambridge to visit St John’s College where Patrick Brontë enrolled and excelled as a student. While in Cambridge the group met with Sarah and Sally McDonald, Chair of Council, for tea at the Royal Cambridge Hotel. It was a very happy occasion including an exchange of gifts and much book signing, and all look forward to seeing each other again.
Photograph: Tea at the Royal Cambridge Hotel
(from the left) Itsuyo Shimizu, Sarah Fermi, Prof. Uchida, Mrs Tanaka, and Sally MacDonald
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