Japan's Wind Phone offers symbolic space for people to talk to the deceased
A disconnected telephone booth in Otsuchi has become a site of remembrance for thousands of grieving people.
A disconnected telephone booth in the coastal town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, has become a place for people to communicate with lost loved ones, according to a report by the Times of India.
Known as the Wind Phone or Kaze no Denwa, the white booth is located in a garden and has no working signal or telephone connection.
The booth was created in December 2010 by garden designer Itaru Sasaki after he lost his cousin to cancer.
Sasaki placed an old rotary telephone in the booth so that he could imagine his words being carried away by the wind.
Following the 2011 tsunami that killed around 1,400 residents in Otsuchi, Sasaki opened his garden to the public to help people express their grief.
More than 30,000 people have visited the garden, where they can pick up the receiver to share memories or leave written notes in a notebook.