Japanese Payphone-1960 Pink- 10 Yen Pink Payphone

Japanese Payphone-1960 Pink- 10 Yen Pink Payphone

Introduced in 1959, Japan’s “pink phones” used ordinary subscriber lines to provide simplified public telephone access inside cafés, hospitals, apartments, and shops. More flexible than traditional street payphones, they could be installed wherever subscribers wished, blending private and public communication and greatly expanding telephone availability in everyday urban life.

Name	Pink- 10 Yen Pink Payphone
Date	1959
Manufacturer	Tamura Electric Works for NTT

Development of the 1960 Pink- 10 Yen Pink Payphone

In 1959, Japan’s public telephone network expanded with the introduction of the “Special Simplified Public Telephone,” better known as the “pink phone.” Alongside the familiar red and blue public telephones, these new units offered a more flexible and accessible service. Unlike standard street payphones, pink phones used ordinary subscriber telephone lines, allowing them to be installed inside private businesses and residential buildings.
They became common in apartment complexes, hospitals, cafés, and small shops where public access to telephones was needed but a full public booth was impractical. The system blurred the boundary between private and public communication, enabling subscribers to place the phone wherever it best suited their premises and customers.

Free Standing, Japan, NTT, Supervised, Tamura Electric Works

May 13, 2026

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