Wind Phone
Nestled among the flowers is a quiet space known as the Wind Phone-a place of reflection, love and connection.
The Wind Phone was added to the flower field when a dear friend asked if I would consider placing one on the farm in memory of her son. I was deeply touched and honored to create this space.
Since then, the Wind Phone has become a special place for many. Visitors have used it to "call" their loved ones - to share news and memories. To laugh and cry. To say things left unsaid. Or to just set and listen.
Next to the phone you will find a journal that stays in the Wind Phone. Many have written messages, memories and reflections within its pages.
This space is open to anyone who needs a moment of connection, healing, or quiet place. May the wind carry your words, and your heart, wherever they are meant to go.
The Original Wind Phone
(風の電話, kaze no denwa)
The original Wind Phone was created in Japan by 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 that was 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 Wind Phone.
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 salvaged his phone booth and relocated 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 worldwide to hold space for a griever—one where the wind will carry their words to those they love who have gone ahead.
More Information and this and other wind phone locations: Home | My Wind Phone