Wouldn't have been phone at that point, it'd be wired telegraph. Which I don't need to elaborate did not go from Japan to the United States but there were exiled Samurai kicking around in Spanish territory for a bit even into the 1800s so possibly one of them could've visited the US and sent Lincoln a Fax. Also I think the king of Siam tried to give the Union war elephants during the Civil War which is much weirder.