“Because my thoughts could not be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind.”
– Itaru Sasaki
From Japan to the world
Wind phones, while physical in form, hold a deeply spiritual significance. Originating from Japan, these disconnected phones offer a unique way to remain connected to departed loved ones.
Itaru Sasaki, a garden designer, conceived the first wind phone in 2010 as a means to cope with the loss of his cousin. "Because my thoughts could not be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind," he expressed.
Opened to the public in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that claimed over 15,000 lives in 2011, Sasaki’s wind phone received over 30,000 visitors, serving as a conduit for solace and remembrance. These poignant instruments have since sprouted up across the world, finding homes in public parks and front lawns alike.
The Wind Telephone
When 19,000 people swept out
to sea, a young man bought
an old phone booth and placed
it in his Japanese garden. How
do we stay connected to
the dead? How do we grieve?
We play piano and pray into
the night. We hear them in
the silence as a tear traces
a cheek and the crickets
and frogs send up their
racket to the moon. We might
say little, or nothing. Farmers
and fishermen calling wives,
mothers, daughters, sons, fathers,
the children and parents, all gone.
The dial tone is silent and the ringing
reaches up to the clouds: “Hello, if
you’re out there, please listen to me.
Please, be okay. Please: be okay.
Without all of you, it’s meaningless.
Have a good trip. Good luck.”
As if they could hear them
and would be home in time
for supper.
– Stuart Gunter
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