# Translation of some Japanese lyrics in the song "Mr. Roboto" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674 "2002-05-24T17:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Victory\_Candescence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/1 "2002-05-24T17:13:17Z")
In the song “Mr. Roboto” by Styx, there is this one part that is spoken in Japanese. Here is someone’s transcription of it\*: > [@](#): > > Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, > Mata ah-oo hima de > Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, > Himitsu wo shiri tai I know what “Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto” means “Thank you very much, Mister Roboto”, but what do the other words mean? **BONUS QUESTION:** Is “Roboto” Japanese for “robot”? This makes sense to me, since I often see the letter “o” added to the end of words that end in “t”, that are borrowed from English. \*The transcription comes from this site: [http://www.styxnet.com/styxlyrics/roboto.htm](http://www.styxnet.com/styxlyrics/roboto.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Victory\_Candescence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/2 "2002-05-25T14:43:30Z")
This thread has fallen to page 3 with no responses. I’m going to bump it up, and hope it gets answered this time around. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/3 "2002-05-25T14:54:28Z")
himitsu wo shiritai = (I/you/he) want to know (your/my/his/the) secret. Japanese isn’t very big on articles. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/4 "2002-05-25T15:11:06Z")
I **think** that this may be a rough translation: Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto. Yet even more Thanks Mr. Roboto For not telling my secret. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/5 "2002-05-25T15:13:28Z")
Or maybe not. It looks like **Sublight’s** post means my last sentence is incorrect. As **Sublight** is in Tokyo, I am sure he/she is more familiar with Japanese than I am. ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/6 "2002-05-25T15:14:39Z")
Or could the last line be “For keeping my secret?” ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/7 "2002-05-25T15:18:29Z")
As for the second line, I’ve been playing it over and over and I can’t figure out what they’re saying. ‘Mata’ means ‘again’, although they could be saying ‘mada’ which means ‘still’ Hmm… “Mada o-hima desu” I’m still on my break? “Mata o-hime desu” I’m a princess again? As for ‘Roboto’, it’s probably just to rhyme with ‘arigato’, but yeah, that’s the typical word used for robot, although it’s usually written as ‘robotto’ (pronounced the way Styx says it, though). Japanese words can only end with an n or a vowel, so most foreign words get o’s, u’s or i’s tacked onto the ends. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/8 "2002-05-25T15:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tevya \* > \*\*Or could the last line be “For keeping my secret?” \*\* No, the “-tai” ending on the verb (shiru, to know) means “want to -”. “wo” indicates that the preceding word (himitsu) is a direct object, so I’d translate it as “want to know secret”. Since there is no subject and no article for secret, just who has the secret and who wants to know is up in the air. (“I want to know your secret” vs “they want to know my secret”) It could even be a question (Do you want to know my secret?"). Your second lines sounds as good as mine. I have no idea what he’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/9 "2002-05-25T15:27:43Z")
btw, I’m a he 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/10 "2002-05-25T15:30:06Z")
I believe the second line is “Mata au hi made”, meaning “until we meet again.” ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/11 "2002-05-25T15:39:44Z")
So pooling together all the posts it looks like we may have something like this: Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto. Until we meet again. Thanks Mr. Roboto Do you want to know my secret? (Could be “I want to know your secret” or “they want to know my secret.”) I see I was pretty off base but then again I’ve only had a year and a half of Japanese and that was 6 years ago. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tevya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tevya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tevya)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/12 "2002-05-25T15:40:50Z")
Make the 3rd line the same as the first line. ---
**Author:** ![xicanorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@xicanorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xicanorex)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/13 "2002-05-25T17:39:35Z")
Wasn’t that a concept album? If so, what WAS the concept? 😕 xicanorex ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/14 "2002-05-25T17:57:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xicanorex \* > \*\*Wasn’t that a concept album? If so, what WAS the concept? > > 😕 > > xicanorex \*\* The concept is in the link that recursion provided. > [@](#): > > The album “Kilroy was here,” by the group Styx tells a fictitious story about a world famous rock star named Kilroy. The story is set in the near future, and each song tells a different part of that story and social meaning. The story briefly goes like this: Dr. Everett Righteous, the founder and leader of a group called MMM (Majority for Musical Morality), has his own television channel and “preaches” about the immorality of rock music. At one of Kilroy’s concerts the MMM storms the stage, captures Kilroy, and sends him to jail with other captured rock and roll stars. Also in this time, Robotos (robots) have taken over the meaningless jobs once done by humans, like factory labor, and work in jails. In Kilroy’s jail the MMM forced mind controlling propaganda at the rock and roll inmates all day. Meanwhile the leader of the rock and roll resistance, Jonathan, jams the signal and replaced it with an outlawed tape of one of Kilroy’s concerts. Kilroy’s hope is reborn and he escapes inside one of the “security guard” robotos. After his escape he leaves the roboto “mask” on while he searches out Jonathan. When he meets up with Jonathan he can finally escape from his “mask.” ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/15 "2002-05-25T19:06:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*himitsu wo shiritai = (I/you/he) want to know (your/my/his/the) secret. > > Japanese isn’t very big on articles. \*\* [Lionel Twain]Say your goddamn pronouns![/Lionel Twain] ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/16 "2002-05-25T21:01:43Z")
**I am the modren man!** ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/17 "2002-05-25T23:48:24Z")
Based on the rest of the song and the context, I’d say it’s probably “I (or we) want to know your secret” The whole rest of the song is Mr. Roboto having a secret and explaining who he is. Since the opening part is talking TO Mr. Roboto, that’s what I get out of it. It’s just a guess, but I wouldn’t say it’s wild-ass. ---
**Author:** ![JamesCarroll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@JamesCarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamesCarroll)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/18 "2002-05-26T03:20:45Z")
I think this site pretty well sums up everything you need to know about the Japanese language: [http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~thoureau/japanese.html](http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~thoureau/japanese.html) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/19 "2002-05-26T04:23:52Z")
I saw Styx on this tour. It was a pretty elaborate stage show, complete with a mini movie and plenty of extra cast memebers. I’m sure **Jonathan Chance** can attest:) ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674/20 "2002-05-26T19:42:20Z")
1. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, 2. Mata ah-oo hima de 3. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, 4. Himitsu wo shiri tai Translation: 1. Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto 2. Until we meet again 3. Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto 4. All your base belong to us \<\\> [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translation-of-some-japanese-lyrics-in-the-song-mr-roboto/110674.md?page=2)