Epoch and the forest where it is always Sunday
Behind Sylvanian Families there is no single artist, but a Japanese company that has spent nearly 70 years making toys with an obsession for detail.
A company, not an artist
Epoch was founded in Tokyo in 1958 by Michihiro Maeda. Before creating Sylvania, the company experimented with games — including the Cassette Vision console of 1981. On 20 March 1985 it released a family of flocked animals and struck exactly the right note. Sylvanian Families is the work of a team, not of a single name — and that collective precision is its signature.
A land from the forest
Sylvania is an imaginary village where families of rabbits, bears, hedgehogs and mice bake bread, go to school and hold picnics. The name comes from the Latin silva — forest. Every family has its own surname, home and daily rhythm; it is a world in which nothing bad ever happens.
Sylvania is not a toy but a whole village — and every one of its residents has a place at the table.
Flocking and miniature
Its hallmark is the velvety flocking of the figures and the meticulously furnished houses — from the furniture down to the teacups. They are closer to the world of miniatures and dollhouses than to a single toy: here you collect entire scenes, not characters.
Around the world
Three years in a row, from 1987 to 1989, Sylvanian Families won the British Toy of the Year award. In North America they are sold as Calico Critters. In 2025 the brand turned 40, and it keeps growing with new families and houses.
Who lives here
The entire Sylvanian Families collection is waiting for you here — flocked, miniature, soothing.
See the collection →Read also: The dark side of Sylvania · Follow: Sylvanian Families · YouTube