A notable record for the longest distance for a phone call in Japan was the 1,538Km (384.5 ri) line between Tokyo and Sasebo. At the time, this was the second longest in the world. The long distance phone line was originally developed for military use during the Russo-Japanese war. The line was opened to the public after the war ended. However, call clarity in those days was very poor and it is said that some telephones had two receivers (one for each ear) for people who were not familiar with using a telephone.

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