(bright music)
- [Narrator] This sculpture
garden located in Japan
was primarily unknown
to the world until 2016
when a photographer stumbled upon it.
(bright music)
There are around 800
sculptures in this park,
depicting a mix of Buddhist
deities and what are believed
to be replicas of real people.
All were commissioned by
a wealthy Japanese man
named Mitsurou Furukawa.
He is said to have paid six billion yen,
around 60 million U.S. dollars
to create this collection in 1989.
There is a large statue of Furukawa,
which stands overlooking the park.
(bright music)
The people depicted are said
to be his friends and family,
but it is unclear if they had
any knowledge of their stony replicas.
They stand near a Japanese village,
the name of which
translates to the village
where you can meet Buddhist statues.
Although these lifelike statues stare
with blank expressions, visitors say
there is an unsettling feeling
to this place and a concern
that at night these
aphogees aren't so still.
(bright music)
