I recently received the Omoide Yokocho Book Nook by Anavrin to review on my blog, but as always, all opinions in this article are completely my own, and I am not getting a bonus for it 🙂
What immediately caught my attention with this kit was the atmosphere. If you like cozy Japanese alley scenes with glowing lanterns, tiny restaurant signs, vending machines, and lots of little details, this one really stands out.
The entire design is inspired by the real Omoide Yokocho area in Tokyo, known for its narrow alleyways packed with tiny food spots and nightlife atmosphere.
In this review, I’ll share my first impressions, what’s included, and what my building experience was.
If you would like to purchase this kit by Anavrin straight from their website, please click here.
My First Impressions And What’s Included In The Kit
When I first looked and opened the box, I could immediately tell this book nook had a very different atmosphere from many of the other kits I’ve built before.
The overall design leans heavily into dark brown wood tones mixed with deep purple-black colors, which gives it that nighttime Tokyo alley feeling right away. But the illumination is a lot brighter, if that makes any sense?
If you would like to purchase this kit by Anavrin straight from their website, please click here.
One detail that genuinely surprised me during the build was the large hanging LED lamps attached to the big wooden beam overhead.
I expected lightweight plastic, but those lamp covers are actually made from real glass! It even had a reserve piece, if you would drop it, which could have happened to me, but didn't this time - lol.
It's the details doing it for me here: there’s a tiny toilet sign hidden in the alley, a little cat figure, miniature vending machines, crates, lanterns, and 2 small eating corners with tiny bowls.
The kit itself contains 261 pieces, and most of them are laser-cut wooden parts, along with some plastic and acrylic pieces for details and lighting elements.
It also comes with prewired LED lighting — and there are a lot of them. I counted well over 10 separate lights. That was a bit more complicated, but more about that later.
The LED lights are actually quite bright. That may sound like a small thing, but it really matters in a narrow alley-style book nook like this because you’ll still be able to clearly see inside the scene once everything is assembled, instead of ending up with dark hidden corners.
If you would like to purchase this kit by Anavrin straight from their website, please click here.
Inside the box you get:
- pre-colored wooden sheets
- plastic and acrylic detail pieces
- prewired LED lights
- wiring components
- instruction booklet
- dust cover panels
- tiny decorative accessories
Like most miniature kits, glue and batteries are not included, so you’ll still need those yourself before starting the build.
You can also watch my full unboxing video below to get a closer look at all the details included in the kit before assembly starts.
My Experience Building The Omoide Yokocho Book Nook
By now, I’ve built quite a few Anavrin kits over the years, and honestly, my opinion about the brand has changed a lot during that time. I really feel they’ve improved a lot with their newer releases.
This one took me about 4 hours to complete in total, which was actually pretty reasonable. The box rates it as a 3 out of 5 stars in terms of difficulty level, and I think that’s quite accurate.
For me, the build itself wasn’t very hard.
The only moment when I needed a short break was during part of the LED lights setup. And to be fair, that’s more of a “me problem” at this point 😄.
There are a lot of wired LED lights in this kit, and sometimes when I’m trying to figure out exactly where every wire has to go, I start losing patience a little.