The original Telephone of the Wind

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What is a Wind Phone? The Phone of the Wind was created in Japan by its creator, Itaru Sasaki, while grieving his cousin who died of cancer.

He purchased an old-fashioned phone booth and set it up in his garden. He installed an obsolete rotary phone not connected to wires or any “earthly system.” Here, Itaru felt a continued connection to his cousin and found comfort and healing amid his grief. Itaru gave his phone booth a name, Kaze No Denwa (風の電話), translated as The Telephone of the Wind.

The following year, in 2011, an earthquake (9.1 magnitude) resulted in a tsunami with 30-foot waves that obliterated the coast of Japan, destroying entire towns and taking thousands of lives.

Many were swept out to sea, and their bodies never recovered. The city of Ōtsuchi is recorded with the highest number of missing persons. The tsunami’s catastrophic ocean waves destroyed the town; its people were left in ruins by the tsunami of grief thrust upon them.

Itaru Sasaki was able to salvage his phone booth and relocate it on a windy hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the foot of the Kujira-Yama, next to the town of Otsuchi. He welcomed mourners to visit his phone booth to make calls to their friends and relatives lost in the great tsunami, hoping they would find a connection to help them cope with their grief as it did him.

The Phone of the Wind is a shrine mindfully created to connect people to their loved ones on the other side. It is one of the world’s most powerful resilience sites. Grievers travel from around the world to “call” their loved ones in spirit, to say the things they didn’t get a chance to say while the person was living. It is a place that offers the peace and solitude grievers need to work through their pain.

Itaru Sasaki has inspired the creation of many beautiful spaces all over the world with the sole purpose of holding space for a griever. One where the wind will carry their words to those they love who have gone ahead.

Now there is one located on Coosa County Road 14 adjacent to Little Road. Motivated by the recent passing of my father, sister and mother, I am reminded of the numerous unspoken words that now can never be expressed, as I am no longer able to engage in routine check-ins with them.

I am currently in grief counseling which is helping tremendously. This, however, embodies a distinct coping mechanism for loss, consistent with Gestalt Therapy, the importance of which will remain unclear until interaction with the inoperative phone and initiation of dialogue with the loved one.

We are still working on a few things like more privacy and an engraved sign explaining the wind phone. Please feel free to stop by anytime. There is also a Fischer Price kids phone for a child that has had a loss. You can also visit www.mywindphone.com to see what it’s all about.