Marianna Lazar
ラーザール・マリアンナ
Senior Lecturer, Károli Gáspár University
cultural history of ancient Japan, Four Gods belief, Kofun period archaeology, decorated tumuli, funerary art, cultural exchange, Onmyōdō practices, Chinese cosmology, religious symbols of ancient Japan
English, Japanese, Hungarian, Chinese
Budapest , Hungary
I am a historian of ancient Japan and currently a senior lecturer at Károli Gáspár University, Department of Japanese Studies (Budapest, Hungary). My research focuses on cultural exchange, religious traditions and archaeology of ancient Japan, and I am particularly interested in Chinese and Korean influences on Japanese burial traditions and burial art. I have been also working on an interdisciplinary research on the "Four Gods belief" (四神思想) for a long time, examining its origin and development in East Asia, focusing in particular on its artistic, cultural, social and political-ideological development in ancient, medieval, early-modern and modern Japan.
PhD, Cultural History, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan, 2018
MA, Japanese Studies, Japanese History major, Károli Gáspár University, Budapest, Hungary, 2013
Research student, MA, Art History, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan, 2013
BA, Japanese Studies, Károli Gáspár University, Budapest, Hungary, 2010
Animating the Cosmos: The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Dark Warrior in Han Tomb Art and Thought. Journal of East Asian Cultures, 18(1), 121–151.
Ancient Chinese and Korean influences on Japanese Tomb Murals. Annals of Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University 20:1. (2021) pp. 48-68.
Archaeology and Onmyōdō: Human-shaped ritual objects associated with purification rites and curses. Embodied Entanglements: Gender, Identity, and the Corporeal in Asia. (Palacký University Olomouc, 2025) pp. 327 - 350.
Study on the development of ancient Japanese turtle motifs. Annals of Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University. Vol. 21:1 (2022) pp. 164-180.
(Unpublished PhD dissertation) 東アジアにおける四神思想の変遷－日本の四神思想を中心に Examining the tradition of the "Four Gods"-belief in East Asia: Focusing on the Japanese tradition of the "Four Gods"-belief (Ryukoku University, 2018)
A study on wall paintings of mural tombs - as seen in the Takamatsuzuka and Kitora tomb. Higashi ajia bijutsu koryushiron. (Chuo koron bijutsu shuppan, 2013) pp. 385-397.
The Wall Paintings of the Takamatsuzuka and Kitora Tomb – from the Viewpoint of Art History. Higashi ajia bijutsu koryushiron. (Chuo koron bijutsu shuppan, 2013) pp. 344-350.
Ancient Coins of Japan.Távol-Keleti Tanulmányok/ Journal of East Asian Cultures 2022/1. (2022) pp. 45–61.
A study on the relationship between Japanese aristocracy and the four gods belief in medieval and pre-modern times. Annals of Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University. 18/1. (2019) pp. 87-109.
Nihon no kingendai ni okeru saireiyou shijin boko no ichikosatsu: Edo kara hiromatta shijin boko ni tsuite 日本の近現代における祭礼用四神鉾の一考察江戸から広まった四神鉾について. Minzokugaku no Shatei 民俗学の射程 (Koyo Shobo, 2022) pp. 137 - 145.
- Introduction to Japanese archaeology, Károli Gáspár University, 2018-2026
- Ancient Japan-Korea relations, Károli Gáspár University, 2018-2026
- Japanese art history, Károli Gáspár University, 2017-2026
- Japanese cultural history, Károli Gáspár University, 2018-2026
- East Asian cultures, Károli Gáspár University, 2018-2026
- Japanese history seminars, Károli Gáspár University, 2018-2026
- MEXT Research Scholarship at Kobe University, 2012-2013
- MEXT PhD Scholarship at Ryukoku University, 2013-2016
- European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology
- Society for East Asian Archaeology
- European Association for Japanese Studies
- The Asiatic Society of Japan
- Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1/9/2026