Short bio
Brigitte Pickl-Kolaczia studied Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna. Her research interests include the dynamics and interactions between Buddhism and Shintō. While her master’s thesis of 2015 examined the development of a state cult around the imperial family through the restoration of imperial tombs in the 19th century, the focus of her research has since shifted to questions regarding religious practice of Japan’s populace during the early modern period. Her PhD thesis of 2025 deals with religious policies in early modern Mito and their impact on the population’s religious practice. Her latest publications include the 2021 volume Religion, Power, and the Rise of Shinto as co-editor and the 2024 paper in Japan Review titled “Domain Shinto in early modern Mito. Impacts on Village Populations and Rural Networks.”
Edited volume
2021 Stefan Köck, Brigitte Pickl-Kolaczia, and Bernhard Scheid (eds.), Religion, Power, and the Rise of Shinto in Early Modern Japan. London et al.: Bloomsbury.
Articles
2024 “Domain Shinto in Early Modern Mito: Impacts on Village Populations and Rural Networks.” In Japan Review 39, 77–98. https://doi.org/10.69307/japanreview.39.0_77
2017 "The Bunkyū Restoration: The Restoration of Imperial Tombs and Re-Design of Imperial Ancestor Worship." In Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies 9, 195–226.
Book chapters
2021 “Kami is kami, Buddha is Buddha”: Religious Policies in Mito in the Second Half of the 17th Century. In: Stefan Köck, Brigitte Pickl-Kolaczia, Bernhard Scheid (eds.), Religion, Power, and the Rise of Shinto in Early Modern Japan. London et al.: Bloomsbury, 177–189.
2020 „Geschichte(n) aus erster Hand: Historische Forschung in japanischen Archiven.“ In: Christina Gmeinbauer, Sebastian Pollak-Rottmann, Florian Purkarthofer (eds.), Wiener Selektion japanologischer Methoden: Jahrgang 2020. Wien: Abteilung für Japanologie, Institut für Ostasienwissenschaften, Universität Wien, 165–178.