WANTED: Japanese Showa era double rotary phone (or info on)

[cdilla]

I first saw this phone a few years ago in the window of a mockup of a Showa Era shopping street in Japan.  I take it it be 1960s ish.  I couldn't identify the maker or anything much about it and had never seen it again until it appeared on a Japanese TV show last when I was over there.  Thankfully I managed to get a snap of it, and it has a photo credit that mentions Iwasaki and Nitto.  So I have started my searching again, and hope someone here has more info, or even one for sale if I am absurdly fortunate :-)

[RDPipes]

There's the same brand on Facebook but, only a single style phone and looks exactly like that one.
There saying it was made by Hitachi and having that logo stamp on it's finger wheel.
Facebook

[cdilla]

Interesting, thank you.  I had never been able to get a close look at the red logo button beneath the dial before, and it does indeed say Hitatchi.  I had seen the Mitsubishi logo on the dial, and as Iwasaki are a part of the Mitsubishi group, allong with the TV proto credit,  I thought Iwasaki the likely manufacturer. 
So, time to look at Hitatchi :-)
Interestingly (for me anyway) is that my smaller counter top version of the Pink Payphone has the same Mitsubishi logo stamped into it.

edited to include the best other look at the red logo on a similar phone and if I squint these old eyes I can just about see Iwasaki rather than Hitatchi. Complicated.

[DarumaPhone]

This is a "BOTH-PHONE" that was released in the 1960s. It was manufactured by Iwasaki Communications and sold by Nitto Communications.
It was an innovative product designed for two people sitting facing each other to use, but it didn't sell well, and only a very small number were manufactured.
Therefore, it is now very valuable and can fetch over $1500 at auction!

[paul-f]

It would be great to find a higher resolution scan of the Both-Phone flyer to permit translation of the text.

While researching an article on "Partner" Phones (published in the June 2019 issue of Singing Wires), I found a Japanese site with these photos of an actual set (below). It was introduced with this text:

４号自動式ボースホーン電話機は筐体に２個のダイヤルが付いている珍しい電話機で、使い方は、向かい合わせにした机の中央に電話機を置き、それぞれの机に座った方がダイヤル、もしくは受話器が取れるという、画期的な電話機です。　かなりユニークな電話機で有るにもかかわらず、発売当初から不人気であった為、生産数、販売数も少なく希少価値のある電話機です。（写真下）

(translated)
The Japanese No. 4 automatic two-phone telephone is an unusual telephone with two dials on its casing. Its innovative design allows it to be placed in the center of two desks facing each other, with the person at each desk able to dial or pick up the receiver. Despite its unique design, it was unpopular from the start, resulting in a low production and sales volume, making it a rare and valuable telephone.

https://www.naonao.jp/html/tel/index.htm
https://www.naonao.jp/html/tel/4/4-bose01.jpg

Unfortunately, the resolution is low.

The Singing Wires article includes examples of several other partner phones from different countries.

[MMikeJBenN27]

Looks like more of a novelty more than anythng else.  Yes, two different people would be able to use it, but only one at a time, which is what makes it impractical - the other person couldn't use the phone until the first person finished, yet it probably cost more per month than a conventional phone.

Mike

[tubaman]

Looks like more of a novelty more than anythng else.  Yes, two different people would be able to use it, but only one at a time, which is what makes it impractical - the other person couldn't use the phone until the first person finished, yet it probably cost more per month than a conventional phone.

Mike

Why do you think it impractical as when I started work shared phones were still very much a thing and this would save having to regularly move it around the desk. Yes, only one person can use it at a time but you're not always on the phone all day.

[RDPipes]

Now that I think of it, it reminds of the "Partner Fans" that came out in the 20's or 30's while both fans ran at the same time facing back to back one robbed air flow from the other producing little air flow.

[MMikeJBenN27]

Because it costs more, yet hardly has any real advantage.  Now if this were two phones in one, with two handsets, so that two people could be using it at once, I could see, as it would be cheaper than two separate phones but would still have the advantage of not having to move the phone around.  Still, it is a nice novelty, and could even be used when advertising job openings, just to call attention to that employer.

Mike

[paul-f]

Because it costs more, yet hardly has any real advantage.  Now if this were two phones in one, with two handsets, so that two people could be using it at once, I could see, as it would be cheaper than two separate phones but would still have the advantage of not having to move the phone around.  Still, it is a nice novelty, and could even be used when advertising job openings, just to call attention to that employer.

Costs more than what?

Does your financial analysis of providing phone service to two employees consider the cost of the following?

• Two standard phone sets plus two phone lines with monthly service charges. Compared with
• One "partner" phone set plus one phone line with monthly service.

How does the cumulative financial analysis compare for each additional month of service?

Even if one partner phone costs more than two standard phones, there is a break even point due to the monthly saving of one phone line cost.

If there was even a small cost saving to this approach with two employees, what would be the long-term impact if adopted across the whole company?

- - - - -

The same analysis for your proposed two-phones-in-one solution still has the cost of two phone lines, plus a partner phone that is presumably more expensive than the subject phone. A specialty set produced in low volume might not be cheaper than two standard phones produced in quantities of millions.

- - - - -

If this phone was produced as a novelty, what would be the manufacturer's business model? Who would want it enough to pay for the increased price? How would it be promoted and sold? Would there be a big enough market for it to be financially viable?

The Singing Wires article shows that partner phones were made by several manufacturers worldwide back then. At that time, there was enough of a market to attract competition. Apparently timed local and long distance charges were high enough to  force companies to direct employees to minimize the number and duration of calls. Sharing a phone wasn't a hardship. I can even remember in the 1980s periodically reviewing my desk phone's itemized monthly phone bill with my manager or a financial analyst. There was also a firm policy about not using the company's phone for personal calls. (Go find a pay phone.)