2025-03-19

　Recently, President Trump has begun to look like a king. Not a ruler like Yao and Shun of ancient China, but a tyrant like Nero. I remember that in Ryotaro Shiba’s “Ryoma Goes,” Katsu Kaishu tells Ryoma, “In America, the people elect their king.” In Japan, there was no concept of president, and there was no translation, so Katsu Kaishu translated the American president as “king.” Of course, since it was a novel, it was an invention of Ryotaro Shiba.

　 I forget which book it was, but in the history of the founding of the United States, it said that General Washington was advised to “Your Excellency, take the throne.” Before the birth of the United States, there were no republics other than city-states, so it was common sense for rulers to call themselves kings. However, Washington said, “I will not be king.” The Founding Fathers of the United States created a “Constitution” and had the citizens choose their ruler, naming this person the President. Napoleon put an end to the chaos that followed the French Revolution and was elected President, and was later elected Emperor. Of course, it was not hereditary. I was surprised to learn that the Emperor was elected by the citizens, and it made sense to me that the story of the American presidential system that Katsu Kaishu had taught Ryoma about made sense.

　Since then, I have thought that the President, who wields great power in the United States, is a “term-serving king.” There are countries in which such term-serving kings exist. One such country is Malaysia. It is a system in which nine sultans who have reigned over local areas are appointed in rotation as king every five years. I see, there are countries with incredible ideas.