Telephone service began in Meiji 23(1890) with only 197 subscribers. By Meiji 29 (1896) the number passed 3,000 phones. The 10,000 level was passed in Meiji 32 (1899) and rapid growth in telephone use brought the number of subscribers to 100,000 by Meiji 42 (1909). Then there were 500,000 by Taisho 15 (1926), 1 million by the thirteenth year of Showa (1938) and 5 million by Showa 38 (1964). Now only five years later in Showa 43(1968) that figure doubles to ten million subscribers.

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