- [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)