Learn about Mississauga's first-ever Wind Phone

In May 2023, Mississauga installed it’s first Wind Phone in the Streetsville Public Cemetery.
Here, we’ll go through the details and history of it for you.

What is a wind phone?
It’s an unconnected telephone booth where people can have one-way conversations/speak to family and or friends that are no longer with us.

Inside Mississauga’s Wind Phone booth, there’s a laminated piece of paper detailing “The Telephone of the Wind” that 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.

What are the origins of the Wind Phone?
In 2010, Itaru Sasaki, a garden designer from Ōtsuchi, Japan, was told his cousin had terminal cancer and only three months to live. After the passing, Sasaki put an old telephone booth in his garden that December as a way to still feel connected to him by "talking" to him on the phone. There’s no religious connection; it was created to help him process the loss of his cousin.

He says "Because my thoughts couldn't be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind."
The black, disconnected rotary phone is housed inside a white, glass-paned telephone booth, which is exactly what is installed in Mississauga’s first one.

When was the Wind Phone installed?
May 19, 2023

Why Streetsville Public Cemetery for Mississauga’s First Wind Phone?
Streetsville Public Cemetery is an active cemetery with the City of Mississauga and is used daily by family members, residents, and individuals looking for quiet respite in the City.  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.

Who initiated this idea & implementation of Mississauga’s first Wind Phone?
Parks, Forestry and Environment Division, who oversee the management and operation of the City’s 12 cemeteries, initiated the idea.  It involved work from site identification to construction to install of the Wind Phone and included a donation from a staff’s family member of the rotary phone.

Where in the Streetsville Cemetery is the Wind Phone?
As you enter the cemetery, it is located just up the hill, beside the flag pole on the right hand side and adjacent to a few parking spots allowing for ease of access for individuals who may not be as mobile but would like to use the Wind Phone. 

If you would like to use the Wind Phone, Streetsville Cemetery is located at 1786 Bristol Road West.