Why write "####" at the end of an article?

Actually, I don't really understand it either. All I can say is that it is a very old custom. I just did a quick search and I still don't know.

After all, it was a custom from a long time ago. There was no e-mail, no Internet, no fax machines. It was the age of Morse code when it came to wireless telecommunications. When I looked it up, all I could find were explanations of how Excel works when hashtags are lined up. I want to say, "That's why this was a long time ago, when there was no Internet. I would like to say, "That's why it was a long time ago when there was no Internet. If you are familiar with the history of communication, please let us know.

What does three hashtags in a row mean?

I don't even know what it means, but why did I get into this habit? It was because it was cool. When I was a rookie, a senior reporter always wrote "####" at the end of his manuscripts when communicating with foreign countries. I simply imitated what I saw. When I asked a reporter in the Foreign Correspondents' Department what this meant back in the days when there were no fax machines, he replied something like this.

Yeah, that means "this is the end of the text." I used to use telex (teletype).

This is a machine like this. I can't even type lower case English letters, let alone Japanese. Only upper-case English letters and a few symbols. When typed on the sender's typewriter, it would be converted into Morse code, such as "ton-to," which would then be converted into English letters on the receiver's typewriter and typed out. Each news agency had one of these, and it seems that letters were finally exchanged by radio. As a remnant of this, it seems that telex numbers of about six digits were assigned instead of telephone numbers at that time.

Come to think of it, I have seen newsprint papers with telex numbers on them, and I have seen paper tape with holes in it. (I wonder if that was perforated tape for computers, because it was yellow.) Anyway, because of such an environment, it is impossible to tell where the communication ends in the sense that I wanted to convey this time. So there is a theory that "####" began to be used to mean the end of a document.

Of course, these are entirely my own analogies and I have no facts to back them up. However, the " End of text" signal is still quite useful even in this technologically advanced age, and for someone like me who writes long, rambling sentences, it provides a break in my mind. That is why I like it and still use it. If I want to add something, I can write it as a "postscript.

So I will continue to use this unintelligible signal as my message. If you know the real meaning of this signal or know its roots, I would appreciate your comments.

###

Added October 25, 2025:
If you are interested in this helpful article, please click click here for more information.