1. 七回目のベルで受話器を取った君

Romaji: Nanakaime no beru de / juwaki o totta kimi

Cultural Nuance: You finally answered the phone after seven rings. That precise "wait" speaks volumes about the psychological distance and the casual intimacy between the two of you.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The word "Juwaki" (受話器 - telephone receiver) carries the nostalgic atmosphere of the late 1990s, when landlines were still the primary mode of personal communication. The choice of the "seventh ring" (Nanakaime) is exceptionally realistic and brilliant. It’s not an immediate answer, yet it’s not quite the point where one would give up or let it go to an answering machine. This specific detail vividly portrays the heightened heartbeat of the caller and the relaxed, perhaps unguarded, state of the person answering. Furthermore, the rhythmic flow of "Bell" and "Totta" showed a new way of fitting Japanese lyrics into an R&B pocket.

2. 声を聞けば自動的に sun will shine

Romaji: Koe o kikeba / jidouteki ni / sun will shine

Cultural Nuance: The second your voice reaches my ears, the sun rises in my heart—no logic or effort required.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The keyword "Jidouteki ni" (自動的に - automatically), which mirrors the song’s title, 

is the core of this track. It suggests that her heart clears up not because she is trying to be positive, but because a "system" has been triggered. Viewing love not just as an "emotional fluctuation" but as an irresistible "physiological phenomenon" or a "program" was incredibly fresh at the time, giving listeners a sophisticated, urban impression. Seamlessly slipping English phrases like "sun will shine" into a Japanese sentence was a powerful weapon unique to her upbringing in the U.S.

3. It's automatic 側にいるだけで その目に見つめられるだけで ドキドキ止まらない

Romaji: It's automatic / soba ni iru dake de / sono me ni mitsumerareru dake de / dokidoki tomaranai

Cultural Nuance: Simply being near you or our eyes meeting is a passive trigger that malfunctions my control system and accelerates my heartbeat.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The onomatopoeia used here, "Doki-doki" (ドキドキ), describes the sound or sensation of a fast-beating heart—common after exercise, when nervous, or when falling in love. In this song, "Doki-doki" isn't just a "cute" expression. It symbolizes the "Automatic" movement of the heart that exists at the opposite pole of logic ("I don't know why"). The use of the passive voice "Mitsumerareru" (being stared at) acts as the ignition switch for her passion; once that heartbeat starts, it "won't stop" (tomaranai) by her own will. It’s a powerful expression of an uncontrollable instinct awakening.

4. あいまいな態度がまだ不安にさせるから こんなにほれてることは もう少し秘密にしておくよ

Romaji: Aimai na taido ga mada fuan ni saseru kara / konna ni horeteru koto wa mou sukoshi himitsu ni shite oku yo

Cultural Nuance: Because your feelings are unclear, I'm going to keep my deep affection hidden in the depths of my heart for now.

🗣 Japanese Insight: This line depicts a "game of love" where one does not show all their cards within a "vague" (Aimai) relationship. What is particularly noteworthy here is the choice of the word "Horeteru" (ほれてる - being in love/smitten). This is a somewhat old-fashioned and "unpolished" Japanese word. By placing this "earthy" word on a sophisticated R&B track, Utada gives the lyrics an intense sense of reality and weight. It portrays a girl who is an "independent individual," trying to regulate herself rather than losing herself entirely in the other person.

5. 側にいるだけで 体中が熱くなってくる ハラハラ隠せない 息さえ出来ない

Romaji: Soba ni iru dake de / karadajuu ga atsuku natte kuru / harahara kakusenai / iki sae dekinai

Cultural Nuance: Just by you being next to me, my entire body temperature rises, and I lose my composure. It is an intense physical reaction that makes even breathing difficult.

🗣 Japanese Insight: The onomatopoeia "Hara-hara" (ハラハラ) usually refers to feeling anxious or nervous while watching something risky. Here, it expresses the thrill and tension of being swept away by the "heat" of love and losing self-control. The direct physical description, "My whole body starts getting hot," indicates that the emotion is no longer just in the mind but has occupied the entire physical being. Describing love as an overwhelming "force" that disrupts the very rhythm of life—to the point where she "can't even breathe"—showcases Utada's extraordinary and precocious sensibility.

6. アクセスしてみると 映るcomputer screenの中 チカチカしてる文字

Romaji: Akusesu shite miru to / utsuru computer screen no naka / chikachika shiteru moji

Cultural Nuance: I access the digital world and stare at the screen. If I hold my hand over those flickering letters, I feel as if I can sense your body heat.

🗣 Japanese Insight: In 1998, the internet was an "unknown frontier" just beginning to enter households. 

The onomatopoeia "Chika-chika" (チカチカ), used to describe the flickering or blinking of text on an old-school desktop computer screen, makes one feel the "living" presence of the other person within the digital coldness. Despite the physical distance, there is a modern sense of loneliness and heat shared through a digital medium. The sentiment of feeling "warm" by touching the letters on the screen suggests that even as technology evolves, the fundamental human desire for "touch" remains unchanged.

7. 側にいるだけで 愛しいなんて思わない ただ必要なだけ

Romaji: Soba ni iru dake de / itoshii nante omowanai / tada hitsuyou na dake

Cultural Nuance: Romantic words like "I love you" aren't important. To me, you are a "necessity," as vital as life itself.

🗣 Japanese Insight: She dismisses the subjective emotion of "loving" (Itoshii) and instead throws out the much more literal and primal phrase, "Just necessary" (hitsuyou na dake). Japan was shocked that these were the words of a 15-year-old. By stripping away sugary decorations, she defines love as the "ultimate dependence and independence"—like water or oxygen, where she cannot function without the other person. This dry, essential definition of love was one of Hikaru Utada’s greatest "inventions" in Japanese music, depicting a modern form of affection.

🎤 Emotional Summary

Hikaru Utada’s "Automatic" is a track that updated Japanese pop both mentally and musically by treating emotion as an "instinctual system" rather than an "act of will."

The song is also sprinkled with other Japanese onomatopoeia, such as "Kira-kira" (sparkling), which visually represents euphoria, giving shape to complex, wordless feelings. From the everyday fragment of the "seventh ring" to the digital connection of the "computer screen" and finally to an essential love that is "necessary, not just dear," the independent form of love sung by this 15-year-old girl continues to resonate with an irresistible force—it's Automatic.