Japanese Branch Report 2005

On Saturday 26 November 2005, the ninth Annual Convention of the George Eliot Fellowship of Japan was held at Tokyo Kasei University. The morning session began with an opening remark by Kazuo Fujikawa (Okayama University), followed by a welcome address by Keiji Yata (Tokyo Kasei University). In the morning, we had three papers presented. The first two papers were introduced and commented upon by Miwa Ohta (Chuo University), and the third by Yoko Nagai (Keio University). The first paper, \u27Janet\u27s Repentance - The story of an unhappy, married couple -\u27 was presented by Naomi Ohno (Toyo University). She focused on the two main characters, Janet Dempster and her husband Robert Dempster, and analysed the story from the viewpoint of their unhappy married life. Furthermore, she focused on Mr. Tryan, a zealous Evangelical clergyman, concluding that Eliot gives him the important role of connecting people in Milby and of supporting Janet in particular with his human love and sympathy. The second paper was \u27The Process of Counselling in Janet\u27s Repentance\u27 by Horuho Murayama (Saniku Gakuin College). He analysed Eliot\u27s psychological realism in his presentation: Janet has come to believe in \u27the message of mercy\u27 to be recovered from suffering since she expects \u27some message of comfort\u27 from Rev. Tryan who knows the \u27secrets of sorrow\u27, and she goes through \u27the initiation of suffering\u27. Murayama concluded that Eliot\u27s ideas on goodness and sympathy were finely crystallized in this process of Rev. Tryan\u27s counselling. The third paper, \u27Adam Bede - Betty\u27s Nature and Sorrow\u27, was presented by Hideo Takano (Komazawa Junior College). He discussed the substantial relationship between human beings and their society from a universal perspective in Adam Bede. Betty\u27s self-destructive daily life was analysed in terms of human nature, \u27a luxurious and vain nature\u27, and her sorrow was cut out in the image of Medusa in Greek Myth. He came to the conclusion that Eliot\u27s concept of human nature - that \u27human nature is lovable\u27 - may be related to that of Buddhist and Oriental culture found in \u27Jihi\u27, the Japanese terms for Mercy