| Name | 675PN-VB “Pink Telephone” Showa Pink Telephone |
| Date | 1985 |
| Manufacturer | Tamura Electric Works for NTT |
Development of the Showa Pink Telephone
| Showa Pink Telephone 675PN-VB (1989-05) This is a Japanese “Pink Telephone” (ピンク電話) manufactured for NTT by the Japanese telecommunications equipment company Tamura. The identification plate on the underside clearly gives the model as 675PN-VB TEL and shows a manufacture date of May 1989. The label also identifies the operator as 日本電信電話株式会社 (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, or NTT). The 675PN-VB was part of the final generation of Japan’s famous “pink phones,” semi-public telephones commonly installed inside shops, restaurants, hotels, bars, apartment foyers and small businesses. Unlike fully public street payphones, these were privately hosted telephones connected through NTT but equipped with coin mechanisms so customers could make calls. Earlier pink phones accepted only 10-yen coins, limiting their practicality for long-distance conversations. In 1985 the design was updated to accept both 10-yen and 100-yen coins, greatly improving convenience and making extended calls possible without repeatedly inserting coins. This redesigned version also introduced several modern features, including emergency access buttons for “110” police and “119” fire and ambulance calls, toll-free calling capability, and adjustable ringer volume. The bold two-tone pink-and-black styling gave the telephone a more contemporary appearance than the earlier all-pink models. By 1989, softer colour variations including pale beige and dark charcoal were introduced, matching the changing interior aesthetics of late-1980s Japan. The compact, sculptural form reflects Japanese industrial design trends of the period: practical, friendly, durable and visually unobtrusive. Today these late-model pink telephones are highly collectible because they represent the final evolution of Japan’s uniquely shop-based public telephone culture before mobile phones transformed everyday communication. Size Width 19cm, Height 29cm, Depth 23cm Weight 5.3kg |
Above image (NTT)- Now very rare- Introduced in 1989, Japan’s card-style “pink phones” reflected the growing popularity of prepaid telephone cards. Installed mainly in shops and restaurants, these two-tone pink-and-black push-button telephones combined semi-public convenience with modern features including emergency call buttons, adjustable ringer volume and card-return chime controls, marking the final evolution of the traditional pink phone.
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