pay phone story

Name	Large Yellow Payphone Note- this was the 100 Yen version of the Large Blue Payphone (that only took 10 Yen coins). Good for long distance calls.
Date	1972 (push button version 1975)
Manufacturer	Anritsu Japan for NTT.

Development of the Large Yellow Payphone

The 100-yen public phone was introduced experimentally in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in September 1971 to encourage direct-dial long-distance calling. Until then, users often had to insert many 10-yen coins during a call. The new model accepted both 10-yen and 100-yen coins, making long-distance calls easier and less annoying, especially because callers no longer had to keep listening for payment chimes. After favourable public response, full-scale use began in December 1972. Early versions resembled the large blue phone, but the production model adopted the familiar yellow colour, visually marking it as Japan’s long-distance 100-yen public telephone.

Above- David Bowie in Japan

Below- NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone K.K.) 679-PRA Yellow Public Phone (payphone), designed for installation in telephone boxes and booths. This example was manufactured in June 1983 by Anritsu Electric Co., Ltd.. Yellow public phones remained in use in Japan until around 1995, when the yellow, red, and other older public payphones that did not accept telephone cards were discontinued, except for some privately operated public phones. Unlike later models, these telephones did not accept NTT magnetic stripe telephone cards.

The 679-PRA Yellow Public Phone shown in the photograph is owned by collector Takuya Nakayama. The photograph was taken and uploaded to Wikipedia for public domain use.