Believe it or not, but Japan just ended their pager service only last month. People have been using pagers in Japan since the 90’s, and was still going on until 30th September, when Tokyo Telemessage finally pulled the plug on the long-running service.

And on the day before the final day of service, the Tokyo Funeral Association set up a tent near Akihabara Station. This is quite fitting as Akiba ain’t just the anime capital of Japan, but also its electronics capital.

The pager representation features the message “1141064,” the Japanese pager code for “Ai shiteiru,” or, “I love you.”

300 people visited the “funeral” and offered their respects to the now-dead service,

Meanwhile, Tokyo Telemessage released this statement:

“We wish to express our deep gratitude to everyone for using our company’s pagers for such a long time. 20 years have passed since the end of pager manufacturing. To those of you who have continued using our service, we would also like to thank you for taking such good care of your pagers. In the early Heisei era [which began in 1989], pagers changed the world, but now the number of people using them has fallen to under 1,500.
Though it is with deep regret, on this occasion of 20 years passing since the end of pager sales we have decided to bring our pager service, which has continued for customers in Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba Prefectures, to a close on September 30.”

source: Sora News 24