A man from London, flew 5,000 miles to visit Harvest Hill in Osaka, Japan, which houses a Sylvanian Families-themed attraction and he took to social media to share his experience
A Londoner has recounted his bizarre adventure to what he considers the globe’s most unusual theme park.
May Naidoo, a 27-year-old content creator, was eager to dive into the miniature world of Sylvanian Families. He jetted off an impressive 5,000 miles to Japan to explore Harvest Hill, home to a Sylvanian Families-themed attraction. Scoring a flight deal for just £378, May took to Instagram to document his journey, with one video amassing a staggering 587,000 likes.
The footage captures May meandering through the quaint houses and joining life-sized versions of the animal figurines for a ‘lunch’. However, the Osaka-based park had an unexpected, almost ghostly atmosphere.
“I am a fan of Sylvanian Families and remember seeing a TikTok about the park a few years ago,” May revealed to What’s The Jam. “I went on a Wednesday morning so it was quite quiet. It’s located within a park called Harvest Hill and you pay entry to enter that park and then again to enter Sylvanian Park.”
Despite the toys’ popularity, May found the park unsettlingly silent. “I was one of few people in Harvest Hill and the only person at Sylvanian Park for most of my time there. It felt quite eerie, they were setting up Christmas decorations in Harvest Hill, so felt like I shouldn’t be there but was still allowed.
“The actual Sylvanian park was fun and it was magical to walk through the buildings. There’s a few buildings fully decorated, such as a couple of houses and a choir school.
“There’s also a quiz to do and if you complete it you get a free Sylvanian Family collectable from the gift shop, but it’s all in Japanese.”
Fans of the secretive park were left absolutely gobsmacked by May’s dispatch from the far-out attraction. One user exclaimed: “Keep it open forever. My future kids WILL be going here.”
Another quipped: “They’d have a hard time stopping me from living in there.”
A third entranced user marvelled: “Somehow Japan has literally everything, any idea that could ever exist on that one island, and STILL has a ton of natural land and beautiful scenery. Just insane how efficient they are.”
Jenny gushed: “Stop it! My son would never want to leave this place.”
Hannie demanded: “TAKE ME THERE.”
May couldn’t help but endorse the park saying, “I would definitely recommend it, it takes a good half a day as it is a taxi or bus away from the nearest station but [it’s] definitely worth it for fans,” adding sentimentally, “It’s been great to see the reaction, it’s nice to introduce it to people who may not have known about it.”
The entrance of the park is the iconic Sylvanian Families house with a red roof, which was included in the ‘My First Sylvanian Families’ set.
The park even has capybaras, which you can watch taking a warm bath in the winter months. Sometimes yuzu fruit, donated by customers or staff, is also floated in the bath. On cold days, the capybaras may stay in the bath for up to two hours.
In addition to capybaras, the park also has a cat house and a dog house, where you can meet furry friends, a sheep and goat walk, an insect and reptile house and horse riding and feeding sessions.
The park costs £7.65 per adult to enter and £5.10 for children over four-years-old. Dogs are also allowed, costing £3.06 to enter.
