LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree review

10348 Japanese Maple Tree captures the beauty and serenity of its subject matter as only LEGO Botanicals sets can.

LEGO Botanicals continues to rise in relevance and prominence within the modern LEGO collection for its exceptional work successfully tackling all manner of natural plants and flowers, and the work for 10348 Japanese Maple Tree is no exception.

10348 Japanese Maple Tree

Release: Jun 1, 2025

Retiring: Dec 31, 2027

Price: £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99

Pieces: 474

Minifigures: 0

Coming in at the higher mid-range of LEGO Botanicals sets for 2025, 10348 Japanese Maple Tree is an eye-catching, mid-sized model that is just the latest example of the theme taking every creative opportunity to fully embrace its source material.

In this case, that’s a Japanese Maple Tree, a woody plant native to the region of Japan, Korea, China, and eastern Russia, but grown worldwide in no small part for its colourful leaves of varying shades. For 10348 Japanese Maple Tree, we have a red-to-orange shade of leaves wonderfully distributed top to bottom across the model, creating – with the use of three different colours of LEGO plant piece – a subtle but very pleasing change in colour as your eyes move across the set.

The technique behind the presentation of these leaves is repetitive (you do the same thing four or five times in total), but necessarily so to very effectively hold form across branches and create that wonderful silhouette.

The branches of the tree beneath the leaves are interesting to put together and wonderfully random in their twists and turns. To a point, they offer a level of customisation when displaying the set, given that they can be moved in different directions once built. Everything is then held firmly in place in a mossy tray that tidily captures the serenity and controlled shaping of a bonsai.  

As mentioned, building 10348 Japanese Maple Tree will include repetitive elements, but such is the calming, colourful beauty of the final model, it’s a small and necessary experience that contributes to what awaits.

LEGO Botanicals is a theme that continues to lean into realism for its builds and sets like 10348 Japanese Maple Tree are all the more stronger for that. These are display pieces and this is one of the most eye-catching and satisfying display sets to take in. The use of colour adds longevity to its life for how different it can look in different light settings, and the offset balance of organic and order perfectly reflects the essence of bonsai too.

There’s a reason we can’t stop recommending LEGO Botanicals sets…

Our honest opinion: 10348 Japanese Maple Tree is interesting to build and quite wonderful to take in once complete – another eye-catching classic from LEGO Botanicals.

This LEGO set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes.

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FAQs

How long does it take to build LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree?

LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree comes together in about an hour of building time.

How many pieces are in LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree?

LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree contains 474 pieces, including three different shades of leaves for the colour effect across the model.

How big is LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree?

LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree sits at 24cm tall and, depending on how you orient the leaves and branches, stretches around 25cm wide and 23cm deep.

How much does LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree cost?

LEGO Botanicals 10348 Japanese Maple Tree comes in at £54.99 in the UK, $59.99 in the US, and from €59.99 in Europe.