ASAHI SHINBUN PUBLISHING
The first long-distance cable laid between Tokyo and Yokohama in Meiji 30 (1895) is the beginning of a long distance network that expands to cover all of Japan and extends from Japan to Manchuria and Sakhalin. Because underground cables require no extra support for weight and are protected from traffic as well as from damage from wind, snow and fire, they gradually replace overhead telephone lines. Gradually, the masses of overhead wire "noodle-shops" and the rows of telephone poles vanish from the city scene. Many passers-by are probably astonished at the suddenly clear view of the sky above.