Go Tokyo Your Experience
In today’s world where smartphones are ubiquitous, finding someone often only requires making a phone call or sending a message. However, in the era before the widespread use of mobile phones, how did we schedule meetings and communicate information? Recently, Japanese manga artistsHoly MoonI encountered some difficulties. When he attempted to create works set against the backdrop of that era, he found that information on communication methods was extremely scarce, making it difficult to accurately depict the lifestyle of people at that time.
This observation has attracted a lot of attention from netizens, who have shared their experiences of how to communicate back then. Let’s take a look at the experience sharing of these Japanese netizens together.
In this era of widespread use of smartphones, if you want to create stories about the past without smartphones as a stage, you must delve into how people at that time arranged to meet. What makes me feel is that relevant literature should indeed be left for future generations to refer to
On the X platform, manga artistsHoly MoonHe expressed his suggestion on recording communication methods before the popularization of mobile phones. He believes that this kind of record is priceless for future creators, as when creating stories set against the backdrop of ‘no phone’, they have to spend a lot of time searching for relevant information, and may still not be accurately described in the end.
So, how did people arrange meetings before the popularity of mobile phones? Many netizens recalled the different communication methods they used back then.
At first, we used a pager, followed by treating our parents at home as message boards. Later, after moving out and living alone, we used an answering machine to receive and send messages. We called home through a public phone, listened to messages remotely, and then dialed the other person’s answering machine to leave a message. All phone numbers and operating instructions had to be memorized by ourselves
Once, my friend and I made an appointment to meet, but neither of us knew each other’s phone numbers. As a result, we couldn’t find anyone at the agreed location and had to go home in disappointment. A few days later, we received a letter from our friend saying they wanted to break up with me… It’s puzzling
An employee in the company once became the information hub for the entire company, where both internal and external information was concentrated. (This probably happened in advertising companies in the 1990s)
Usually, meetings are arranged by phone the night before, such as’ at the CD store at Yokohama Station West Exit at 11am ‘
In an era where only landline phones could be used, it was common to make mistakes about meeting places or times, and experiences of waiting in the cold wind were not uncommon. However, these waits often brought unexpected encounters. I miss the time of the BP machine so much
Because there will always be people who are late, we usually choose places like cafes, video game shops, or Baiqingge stores to pass the time when scheduling meetings
When we were in the upper grades of elementary school to junior high school, whenever there were many people traveling together, we would make an agreement to take the train at 00:00 station and then gather on the train. If someone was late, we would use the public phone to contact their family and convey the message that ‘we are going to 00:00 next.’ If we still couldn’t meet, we would continue to repeat this step
Previous campus themed works or comics, such as Detective Conan, have provided a lot of help because the series delicately depicts the transition from a pager to a smartphone, reflecting daily life at that time
Nowadays, it seems necessary to record the life scenes of that era. For example, after attending the Comic Market doujin exhibition in the past, everyone would gather at Shinjuku Station, and the message board at the station came in handy. (Some people even left messages like ‘XYZ’ on it)
In the past, people always carried a few handkerchiefs with them when going out, waving hats or scarves as signals. This is simply unbelievable compared to today – such a gap in time should indeed be better recorded and passed down.