Gasshu-Koku (合州国）is Better than Gasshu-Koku (合衆国)

　　　　　Tessa Morris Suzuki, professor of Australia National University,

cotributed an essay, whose title was “It is the U.S.A. that must Democratize
Itself,” to the Asahi on December 12, 2003. She wrote the essay in Japanese, in

which “the United States” was written not “合衆国“ but “合州国” in kanji. As some

people know, the right kanji is“合衆国,“ but she intentionally used a wrong kanji

“合州国.” She seems to have used the kanji on account of her special thoughts on

the Japanese kanji. It is needless to say that a correct Japanese word ”合衆国” means

a country in which people are united. However, the kanji she wrote meant that not

people, but states, are united. Tessa Morris Suzuki taught Japanese people that a

reasonable notation of kanji for the United States is “合州国.”

     Japanese people may have been too accustomed to an inaccurate usage of kanji.

The writer does not know why “合衆国” was adopted as an equivalent for the United

States. Besides, the writer did not know that an extremely important historical fact

is involved in the problem of the translation of the word for the United States.

     The writer of the essay found out for the first time about this fact from a certain

English writing textbook, which stated, “… it may surprise some people to learn

that Americans are also indebted to the native people for our form of government.

The Iroquois who were an extremely large tribe with many branches called

‘nations,’ had developed a highly sophisticated system of government to settle

disputes that arose between the various branches. Five of the nations had joined

together in a confederation called ‘The League of the Iroquois.’ Under the

League, each nation was autonomous in running its own internal affairs, but the

nations acted as a unit when dealing with outsiders. … When the thirteen

American colonies were considering what kind of government to establish after

they won their independence from Britain, someone suggested that they use a

system similar to that of the league of the Iroquois. … As a result, the present

form of government of the United States can be traced directly back to a Native

American mode.” (Writing Academic English, Third Edition, 1999, Longman,

p. 128). Few Japanese people seem to know this historical fact. The “States” in

the United States of America hold the key to the solution of the question. That

is, native Americans’ wisdom contributed to the government system of the

present America.

     Did the translators of the word “United States” know this fact? If they had

known it, why did they dare to use a kanji “合衆国” instead of “合州国”? If they

had known the fact and that they had deliberately used the kanji, it would be

a kind of blasphemy against not only native Americans but the United States.

If translators had been simply ignorant of American history, the notation of

“合衆国” should be changed into that of “合州国” right now, as Tessa Morris

Suzuki pointed out.