Asian American Religious Cultures. Edited by Jonathan H. X. Lee, Fumitaka Matsuoka, Edmond Yee, and Ronald Y. Nakasone. American Religious Cultures. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015. 2 vols. Acid-free $189 (ISBN 978-1-59884-330-9). Ebook available (978-1-59884-331-6) call for pricing.

Asian American Religious Cultures (AARC) is an encyclopedic collection of essays and entries aimed at high school students, college undergraduates, and nonspecialist readers. This collection, written by a variety of experts, touches upon specific elements of Asian American religious cultures.

While the nineteen essays vary in length, their focal point is distinct: critical topics related to Asian American religious culture. The editors’ selection of critical topics is notable; for example, two topics: religion, race, and orientalism and interpretation stand out as issues that require a thoughtful and comprehensive response, which AARC provides.

The more than 200 entries in AARC supplement the essays by providing information related to specific elements of Asian American religious cultures. For example, a brief entry on dragons discusses the role that dragons have played both historically and currently in Asian American religion. Another excellent example is the entry on Mormons. With Anglo-American roots, one does not often consider Mormonism to be a topic for discussion among Asian Americans. However, the contributor of this article, Garry Trompf, differs. Tromph provides a brief but excellent introduction to the impact of the Mormon Church in Asian countries and segues into an overview of Mormonism today among Asian Americans. Even though both of these entries are brief, the contributors provide bibliographic information providing resources for further reading. This is an invaluable asset. These two entries serve as examples which the remainder emulate.

There are several topics that a potential student may pursue in relation to Asian American religious culture that were not included in AARC. To accommodate these scenarios, the AARC includes brief references to refer the reader to related topics. For example, AARC does not have an essay or an entry on Baptists, however, it does have “Baptist” listed in the entries and it simply says “see Morikawa, Jitsuo.” Jitsuo Morikawa, a Baptist minister of Japanese ancestry, played a critical role in the American Baptist Churches, and this entry provides a brief snapshot of Baptist work in Asian American culture. These references abound in the AARC and they add tremendous value to this work. AARC also includes an index which serves as an invaluable tool for patrons desiring to do research on Asian American religious cultures.

An earlier work by the same publisher, ABC-CLIO, and edited by two of the editors of AARC, is titled Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife (EAAFF). While these works do sound similar, they do have distinctions. The objective of EAAFF is to answer the question “What is Asian American Folklore and Folklife?” The answer to that question will involve religion and religious institutions, but it also entails customs, traditions, languages, and other cultural aspects of Asian Americans. The EEARF provides a broader, but still valuable, perspective, whereas AARC provides more depth information on one particular aspect: religion.

While AARC is a notable and unique source, one must remember that the intended audience for this work is high school students, college undergraduates, and nonspecialist readers. It would be a good starting point for undergraduate students, but it would not provide the resources needed for detailed research or analysis. Because of that, AARC would be a welcome addition to any library lacking content in this area and looking for a good place where patrons can start their inquiries on these topics.—Garrett Trott, Librarian, Corban University, Salem, Oregon