A box-type automatic telephone was installed at the foot of Kyobashi bridge in October 1900 (Meiji 33), beginning the spread of outdoor public telephones. The name given to the telephones, "jido-denwa", was a direct translation of "automatic telephone", the name used in the United States at that time. Local call charges were an expensive 15 sen per call (5 minutes). However, usage increased dramatically when this was reduced to 5 sen per call two years later (in 1902), and the popularity of the automatic telephone spread widely.

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