1. How Pagers Let People Send Messages with Numbers and Wordplay
A pager is a small calling device that sends a notification to someone asking them to call back. The service began in 1968 with the public telecommunications corporation (now NTT), and by its peak in 1996, the number of contracts exceeded 10 million [1]. A 1999 news report gave the peak as 10,778,000 contracts in August 1996 [2]. As pagers that could send numbers became widespread, the game of reading numbers as words naturally emerged. Even though the screen only shows numbers, if friends agree on how to read them, they become words. Reading "0840" as "Ohayo" (Good Morning) is one example of this [3].
In 1995, it is reported that about 80 percent of new subscribers to the Tokyo Telemessage company were high school students, and the majority of them were female [3]. This suggests that the users themselves created the ways to use these devices. However, when the golden age of number wordplay began varies depending on the source. This article does not fix a single year for that peak.
2. How Train Station Message Boards Passed Notes Between People
Until mobile phones became widespread, many train stations had message boards. These were boards used to write down meeting places and times, passing messages from one person to another [4]. It was a simple way to leave a written note that someone could read later. Even if you did not know where the other person was at that moment, if you wrote it down, someone who came later could read it.
Today, it is noted that chalk has been removed from many stations [4]. This shows the current state of a tool whose role has changed.
3. How Public Phones Helped People Who Were Out, and Why They Decreased
Public phones were also a means of contact for people who were out. According to one report, the number of NTT East and West public phones peaked at approximately 930,000 in the fiscal year 1984, and dropped to approximately 180,000 by the end of the fiscal year 2014 [5]. This is about one-fifth of the peak number. These figures come from a news report and have not been checked against the original announcement, so please read them as figures reported by that source.
4. How Mobile Phones Changed When Deposit Fees Ended and Text Messages Began
In 1993, NTT DoCoMo abolished the mobile phone deposit, which had been 100,000 yen at the time. In 1996, the system where the government approved fees also ended [6]. These two changes, both lowering the cost of getting a phone, came close together in the mid-1990s. In 1999, i-mode began, and it is explained that mobile phones became connected to the internet on their own [7]. There are also reports stating that the decline in pager contracts was because PHS and mobile phones started offering text messages [2]. The era of using ingenuity to convey feelings with numbers shifted to an era of simply sending text. This shows how the tools for communication swapped places.
5. Why Message Boards Were Brought Back at JR Higashi-Kanagawa Station in 2020
From April 30 to June 22, 2020, message boards were temporarily revived at JR Higashi-Kanagawa Station. This was a project during a time when there was a sense of stagnation due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is said that there were about 20 entries per day, totaling about 1,000 entries during the period [8]. Message boards were used routinely at many stations until about 20 years ago, but they disappeared as mobile phones became widespread [8]. This can be read as one example of a tool that found a new use after its everyday role in communication had ended.
6. How You Can Investigate Number Wordplay and Old Ways of Connecting Yourself
Things you can do today: Try making your own number wordplay, like "0840 = Ohayo." Show it to your family and ask what getting in touch was like when they were young.
Things you can do when going out: If you spot a public phone or a station message board, take a look from a place where you will not block people walking by.