Wind phone helps people cope with the death of loved ones in Mississauga

Mississauga installed its first wind phone this spring and it’s already helping people cope with the death of loved ones.

Wind phones are disconnected phones set up for people to speak to loved one who has died as a way to help in the grieving process.

Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki built the first “kaze no denwa” or “wind phone” booth in his garden in the small town of Otsuchi in 2010 as a way to speak to his cousin who died, according to Bloomberg News.

“Because my thoughts couldn’t be relayed over a regular phone line,” Sasaki told the Japanese TV channel NHK Sendai. “I wanted them to be carried on the wind.”

The following year, in 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck this part of northeastern Japan killing nearly 20,000 people. Sasaki then opened the phone to the public to talk to their lost loved ones who died in the disaster.

The concept has blossomed with wind phones now found around the world including Ireland, the United States, and across Canada in Newfoundland, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

Japanese garden designer Itaru Sasaki built the first wind phone for his garden in Otsuchi, Japan. Photo by Matthew Komatsu

And now Mississauga residents can use the city’s first wind phone, installed on May 19 this year at the Streetsville Public Cemetery at 1786 Bristol Rd. W.

The wind phone is a City of Mississauga project, installed at a minimal cost, a city spokesperson tells insauga.com.

City staff constructed the phone booth, bench and shelf inside, and the rotary telephone was donated.

Like other wind phones around the world, it is meant to help people cope with the sudden loss of a friend or family member. Anyone who wishes to use the wind phone is welcome to do so in solitude.

“The Wind Phone at Streetsville Public Cemetery will provide individuals who are mourning the loss of their loved ones an opportunity to work through the grieving process and to say their final goodbyes, or have future conversations with their loved ones to share news,” the spokesperson says.

A message inside the phone booth reads: “This phone is for everyone who has lost a loved one. The phone is an outlet for those who have messages they wish to share with their lost friends and family. It is a phone for memories and saying the goodbyes you never got to say.”

People are already using the wind phone.

“During installation of the wind phone, visitors to the cemetery were commenting on it and asking staff questions about it,” the city spokesperson said. “Staff also saw people using it within hours of it being fully installed.”