The Wind Phone

Some words are hard to say. Some are never said at all.
A Wind Phone is a simple, unconnected telephone placed in a small booth, often in a quiet natural setting. People step inside, pick up the receiver, and speak — to someone they miss, to a memory, or to something they carry within.
There is no line. No one answers.
And yet, something shifts.

Where It Began

The first Wind Phone was created in Japan by Itaru Sasaki.
He placed a phone booth in his garden after losing a close relative. The phone was never meant to connect to anyone. It was simply a way to give shape to grief — to speak words that had nowhere to go.
In 2011, after the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the story of the Wind Phone began to spread.
People who had lost loved ones came, one after another. They stepped into the small booth, lifted the receiver, and spoke into the silence.
What started as a personal gesture became something shared.
Not a monument.
Not a ritual.
Just a space.
The Wind Phone, Ōtsuchi, Japan — Photo by Alexander McBride Wilson, via Bloomberg
Kazuyoshi Sasaki at the Wind Phone — Photo by REUTERS, via The Japan Times
The original Wind Phone — Photo by Matthew Komatsu, via Unseen Japan

A Space Without Rules

There is no instruction for how to use a Wind Phone.
Some people speak for a long time. Others say only a few words. Some come once. Others return again and again.
It is not about belief.
It is not about answers.
It is about giving voice to what remains — grief, love, gratitude, regret — and allowing it to exist, even briefly, outside of ourselves.
The simplicity is part of what makes it powerful.

A Quiet Movement Around the World

Over time, Wind Phones have appeared in many places around the world.
Each one is different. Some are carefully built, others more improvised. Some stand in forests, others near the ocean, or in small community spaces.
There is no central organization, no official model. Each installation grows from the people who create it and the community that surrounds it.
Some visitors seek them out, traveling from one location to another, documenting their journey, discovering how each place feels.
A shared idea, carried and reshaped by many.

Continue to explore
🌐 https://www.mywindphone.com/windphonelocations 
🌐 https://thetelephoneofthewind.com/location-directory/
There is no single official source for Wind Phone locations. Instead, a number of community-driven directories and maps exist, reflecting a growing and ever-changing network of places. 
The Atlanta Wind Phone — Courtesy of The Grief House 
KazWind Phone installation, Maine — Photo by Val Marier (Wandering With Val)

Continuing the Story

The Wind Phone is not a finished concept. It continues to evolve, quietly, wherever people feel the need for a space like this.
Each new installation becomes part of a larger, invisible network — not connected by wires, but by intention.
At Malibu United Methodist Church, we are beginning to imagine what our own version could become.
Not as something to replicate, but as something to create, together.

And this is where the story continues.
We are currently looking for volunteers — especially students — who would like to take part in shaping and building this project.
👉 Be part of the Wind Phone project