Globalised Reciprocity: Expanding Sāmoan World and Chieftainship. Matori Yamamoto. Kobundo, 2018, Tokyo. Hardback, illustrated, 281 pages. IBSN: 978-4-335-56137-5.

Masami Tsujita Levi, National University of Sāmoa

Sāmoa’s ceremonial exchange is the craft of art, combining highly developed oratory, a complex system of gift giving, and reciprocal relationships between chiefly titleholders and families. Its sophisticated system has intrigued many researchers including the Japanese anthropologist Matori Yamamoto who has studied Sāmoa’s ceremonial exchange and chiefly system for the last 40 years. Globalized Reciprocity: Expanding Sāmoan World and Chieftainship is Yamamoto’s new book written on this topic in the Japanese language. In this review, I will summarise some of her findings and analysis. The book analyses the power and reciprocity involved in Sāmoan ceremonial exchanges in both Sāmoa and in its diaspora community abroad. It examines transitions in the matai system since 1970s to the present through looking at the changes in the usage, quality, commercial value, type, and meaning of fine mats or ‘ie tōga in the ceremonial exchange that helps sustain the matai system. Yamamoto looks at the internationally expanding Sāmoan communities and examines the dynamics of ceremonial exchanges of ‘ie tōga based on her field research in Sāmoa, New Zealand, Hawai’i and the US mainland since 1978.