On Dec. 25 of the second year of the Meiji Period (1869), a telegraph service was started between Tokyo and Yokohama. The telegraph apparatus used at that time was called the Breguet letter-point telegraph, and was operated by moving a handle over a disc on which letters were written. This telegraph, unlike the print telegraph that used codes, was operated by pointing to letters on the disc, and was easy for novices to work. The foreign expert then was an Englishman named G. M. Gilbert. In those days, many hired foreigners like him were invited to Japan to introduce the Western system and technology.

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