The booth was originally built in December 2010 to help Sasaki cope with his cousin's death, but he shared it publicly after an earthquake and tsunami claimed around 1,400 lives in Otsuchi alone. Visitors use a non-working rotary telephone to voice unexpressed feelings or record written thoughts in an on-site notebook. Over 30,000 mourners have visited the garden, transforming the personal sanctuary into a global phenomenon. The memorial also inspired director Nobuhiro Suwa's 2020 feature film *Voices in the Wind*, which won an award in Berlin.
Key points
The disconnected rotary phone serves as a symbolic outlet for the bereaved to express gri…: The disconnected rotary phone serves as a symbolic outlet for the bereaved to express grief and share life updates.
Global installations now offer solace to people dealing with tragedies, wars, and the COV…: Global installations now offer solace to people dealing with tragedies, wars, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The memorial inspired the 2020 film Voices in the Wind, which earned an honourable mentio…: The memorial inspired the 2020 film Voices in the Wind, which earned an honourable mention in Berlin.
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In a quiet corner of Japan, a simple white telephone booth has become an unlikely place of comfort for people grieving the loss of someone they love. It has no working telephone connection, no signal and no way to deliver a message to its intended recipient. Yet, thousands of people have travelled to it to do something deeply personal: pick up the receiver and talk to someone who is no longer alive. Known as the "Wind Phone", or "Kaze no Denwa" in Japanese, the booth stands in a garden in Otsuchi, a coastal town in Iwate Prefecture. What began as one man’s private way of coping with loss has grown into a place of remembrance for people from across Japan and beyond.
A phone created out of personal grief
The story of the Wind Phone began in December 2010, when Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki lost his cousin to cancer. Struggling to come to terms with the loss, Sasaki wanted a way to continue feeling connected to someone who had been an important part of his life.
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