Conference

The International Siebold Research Conference Leiden 2026

Date

Friday 9 October 2026 - Saturday 10 October 2026

Address

University Library
Witte Singel 27
2311 BG Leiden

Room

Kartini Auditorium

The 2026 International Siebold Research Conference will be held at Leiden University Library in the Kartini Auditorium on the ground floor. With an international selection of speakers, the Conference aims to convene the latest expertise on the life and work of Philipp Franz von Siebold in Leiden on the occasion of the anniversary of his famous court journey from Nagasaki to Edo in 1826.

Attendance is free and without registration.

Programme

Friday (9 October 2026)

10:00 | Arrival, registration and coffee

10:15 | Welcome and opening
Marianna van der Zwaag & Kuniko Forrer (Japan Museum SieboldHuis) and Nadia Kreeft & Rudolf Effert (Leiden University Libraries)

10:30 | Yoko Matsui, (Historiographical Institute, Tokyo University)
The Dutch Embassy Rules and Regulations
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

11:05 | Coffee and tea

11:35 | Matthi Forrer, (Wereldmuseum Leiden)
It was a coming and going in that Nagasakiya inn in Edo
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

12:10 | Carla Teune, (Hortus Botanicus Leiden)
Off the beaten track
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

12:45 | Lunch break

14:15 | Martien van Oijen, (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
How Siebold collected the most beautiful Japanese animals during the court journey, and their journey to the Fauna Japonica
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

14:50 | Steven Hagers (independent researcher)
The legacy of Johannes Josephus Hoffmann
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

15:25 | Coffee and tea

15:55 | Martijn Storms (Leiden University Libraries)
Special Pop-up exhibition of maps from the Leiden University Libraries Special Collections - Heinsius Room

16:55 | End of Friday programme

Saturday (10 October 2026)

09:00 | Arrival and coffee

09:30 | Feddo van der Beek, (University Twente)
Siebold's medical practice during the Court Journey of 1826: treatments and knowledge exchange on the road in Japan
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

10:05 | Daan Kok, (Wereldmuseum Leiden)
Braggarts and untouchables: Japanese craftsmanship in leather and gold leather
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

10:40 | Coffee and tea

11:10 | Arlette Kouwenhoven, author of Brandende ijver. Siebold. De biografie
The court journey as a golden opportunity: How Siebold brought Japan together
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

11:45 | Rudolf Effert, (Leiden University)
Introduction to the family De Sturler
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

12:20 | Lunch break

13:50 | Andreas Mettenleiter, (Siebold Museum Würzburg)
Salamander, Salamandra, Sieboldia maxima
25-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A

14:25 | Coffee and tea

14:55 | Walk to Japan Museum SieboldHuis

15:10 | Short visit to Japan Museum SieboldHuis

15:55 | End of conference

For dinner on Friday evening we have booked places at Restaurant 12, 12th floor of the Wellness-hotel Leiden. Directly behind the railway station Leiden Centraal.

Participants can have dinner there at their own cost as the organization has no funding available.