In the 34th year of the Meiji Period, male operators were abandoned as being unpopular because of their rough style with subscribers: "Hey, what number?", "OK, OK, now I'll connect you." Thereafter, this job became the most common one for women after spinning factory work and nursing. The following contribution was sent to a newspaper in those days. "Operators at telephone exchanges during the night are males but they are extremely unkind. No matter how often I try, they stubbornly reject my request because they say the line is busy. That would not make the telephone a means of transportation. Should it be called unkind or immoral? As we are at a distance, we cannot fight. This is nonsense! Does anybody know how to get rid of them? (Angered Man)" (Oct. 11, 32nd year of the Meiji Period, Tokyo Asahi Shimbun)

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