| Wind phone | |
|---|---|
風の電話 | |
 Ōtsuchi wind phone in May 2018, before the inauguration of the newer aluminum booth | |
| General information | |
| Type | Telephone booth |
| Location | Ōtsuchi, Iwate Prefecture |
| Country | Japan |
| Coordinates | 39°23′10″N 141°55′55″E / 39.38611°N 141.93194°E |
The wind phone (風の電話, kaze no denwa) is an unconnected telephone booth in Ōtsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, where visitors can hold one-way conversations with deceased loved ones. Initially created by garden designer Itaru Sasaki in 2010 to help him cope with his cousin's death, it was opened to the public in the following year after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami killed over 15,000 people in the Tōhoku region. The wind phone has since received over 30,000 visitors. A number of replicas have been constructed around the world, and it has served as the inspiration for several novels and films.