In the small town of Otsuchi in northern Japan, 2,000 residents were lost in the tsunami in 2011.

One resident, who had already been grieving his cousin before the tsunami hit, had the idea of placing an old phone booth at the bottom of his garden with a disconnected rotary phone.

He would ring his cousin’s number and his words would "be carried on the wind" as he spoke to him.

After the tsunami hit, and word about the wind phone spread, many more people have come to Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture, to call those they have lost.

You can find out more about the wind phone by listening to the World Service's Heart and Soul programme.

Camera: Taiki Fujitani

Producer: Sarah Cuddon and Sophia Smith Galer