The Eerie Japanese Park: Fureai Sekibutsu No Sato

Hidden in a valley in Toyama Prefecture, near the city of Osawano lies a village that is not populated by humans, but rather by hundreds of stone statues.
Called the Fureai Sekibutsu no Sato, or the village where you can find human images of stone, now invaded by flora and abandoned, that seem to be watching every move of the visitors. It is a unique area where you can spend an afternoon enjoying the atmosphere and admiring the masterpieces of the statues.

Some statues represent Buddhist deities, others represent real people.

The birth of Fureai Sekibutsu, or “The Village Where You Can Find Buddhist Statues,” lies with a man named Mutsuo Furukawa, a wealthy local businessman who owned many of the restaurants and hospitals in the area. In the late 1980s, he wanted to create a park that could potentially be a place where families and visitors could relax in a natural setting.
Furukawa-san then commissioned the creation of hundreds of statues in the likeness of local people who were friends with him or who worked at his many businesses. To create the statues, he had photos of each person taken from the front, side, and back, and sent the photographs to China. There, a sculptor created the statues and then sent them back to Toyama Prefecture in crates by boat.

It took about three or four years in total to create and place all the statues at Fureai Sekibutsu no Sato. The oldest statues were placed towards the top of the hill, while the newest were positioned at the lower elevations of the area.

The Fureai Sekibutsu no Sato is divided into two areas with many paths. Walking along the road that leads to the statues, you will find the first area filled with many statues and Buddhist motifs, as well as a statue of Mutsuo Furukawa himself.

Further along the road, we find another park-like area with most of the statues made in the image of the locals, as well as images of the zodiac animals.

It is recommended to visit the park during the day to fully enjoy the natural scenery and see the statues. However, you can also visit the area at night to see how scary it is as the stories say. Some locals believe that the statues come to life when the sun goes down, keeping an eye on people walking on the paths in the darkness. When visiting the park during a full moon, the shadows cast by the statues make it seem like you are being followed as you walk.