This has been translated and elaborated upon since OJ.
Yes, Yonko are some of the strongest characters in the series. Are they the 4 strongest? No. Individuals such as Mihawk, Sakazuki, Dragon, etc, are stronger than most if not all of them.
In order to be a Yonko one needs a strong crew and territories.
MF Gura yami Teach who had declared himself the strongest, who did the unprecedented by eating two devil fruits and was pulling off feats on WB's level, thus he was a top tier.
Yet he only became a Yonko after beating Marco and
conquering territories left behind by WB. So strength alone isn't enough. You need lands. You need a strong crew. You need people to protect those lands.
Teach had to gather sufficient territories in order to be recognized as an Emperor, which the name itself implies.
Individual strength of course helps, but without a crew and territories, even if one was the strongest of all time in OP one wouldn't be an Emperor.
How do we read the kanji/japanese?
Seems rather subjective to me, to say that the title "
only refers to political power" "as opposed to strength level" and to follow it with "although of course strength helps",
...meanwhile two of the Yonkou members are the strongest beings on the planet, WSM and WSC. The other member are the Kaidou-clone in powerlevel hype (BM, Beast Pirates said there are two Kaidous). They have the strength that significantly eclipse anyone from their crews and empire.
Considering these absolute strength-related titles held by at least these two members, its almost like the ones who supports this "greatest only refers to political power as opposed to primarily individual powerlevel" notion don't want powerlevel to become the primary source of this title.
"the ruling part support that the title is about political power" is also only an interpretation of two parts of a sentence, not an actual confirmation from the author/manga team, right?
On the other hand, the "ruling the latter half" can always be considered the addition, since it was mentioned later than the "powerful/great" part.
So if the greatest term on that title is based on powerlevel, then the top individual strength (WSM/WSC level) is the primary requirement. That was what BB was doing, claiming WB's fruit transform him into an ultimate being like he himself said. The primary requirement, no one has the capability to reach that level of strength aside from WSM and WSC.
Thus he can reach the secondary requirement: attract enough followers to be able to beat Marco and take WB territories. Without him being that powerful himself, the second requirement can never be fulfilled. That's what i took from these statements.
A bit yeah, I took Japanese class in my freshman year in high school but I dropped it.
How do we read the word? Is it "Dai"? Meaning great/strong? How do you think this relate to powerlevel?
It refers to individuals who are leading the greatest organizations among pirates.
It is not representing individual strength because we know that at least two of them are weaker than Mihawk.
Greatest organizations? So why does the yonkou consist of WSM and WSC who are both superior to WSS by default? The Yonkou title interpretation is not based on your wishful thinking. Where are those organizations mentioned as more impactful than their own powerlevel?
