Bome is surrounded by women on whom he has lavished countless hours of attention. It is because of his fascination for them that he has no wife, and according to colleagues no desire even to find love.

It is hard to tell what the women give Bome, but it is safe to say they represent his ideal of femininity. Because he made them.

Bome is a Japanese modeler of Garage Kits, or GKs - limited-edition scale model kits that depict characters from anime. In his 50s and unmarried, his passion for his work at model kit and figurines specialist Kaiyodo is all consuming, in a profession that is dominated by solitary men who spend countless hours crafting tributes to their favorite characters from anime, science fiction and fantasy.

An exhibit on display Photos: Courtesy of Zhang Wei

"Like many other sculptors at Kaiyodo, it seems as if Bome is not going to fall in love with anyone as he really enjoys what he does, which he believes can bring him great strength," Shuichi Miyawaki, the president of Kaiyodo, told media when he attended the opening ceremony of the first GK figures exhibition in Shanghai in October. 

"All the sculptors, including me, have been die-hard fans for years," the president added.

Kaiyodo - The World Art Gallery GK Art Exhibition at 1933 Shanghai on Liyang Road, Hongkou district, has nearly 3,000 GK on display, all based on famous animated films and television series from the past 40 years. As well as Japanese characters, they also include characters from Star Wars, Toy Story, Superman and Spider-Man. It is the first GK exhibition on the Chinese mainland, according to curator Zhang Wei.

Kaiyodo started out in 1964 as a small plastic model shop in Osaka, born out of Miyawaki's love of plastic models. Some of Miyawaki's early collection is also on display at the exhibition, including model sailboats.

In the 1980s, the company shifted its focus to GK figures cast mainly in resin. Since the late 1990s, the company has been producing low-cost, high-volume "premium" models, which are usually bundled with candy. The Japanese term for this is shokugan (candy premiums), combining the words for food product (shokuhin) and toy (gangu).

A poster for the exhibition

"It is a very clever sales 'trick,' since you never know whether the model inside is what you want until you buy it, and once you want to collect the models as a complete set, it will stimulate repeated consumption," Zhang said.

Zhang is also a GK collector. For himself, what he likes most at the exhibition are recreations of scenes from films using the GK models.

The exhibition also introduces and explains the work of more than 10 master modelers, some full-time employees of Kaiyodo, and other freelancers.

"Most professional modelers started out as GK fans," Zhang said. "They do not necessarily have a professional foundation or experience in art, but they have enthusiasm and inspiration. Most importantly, they have a great tolerance for solitude and enjoy the work."

Date: Until January 15, 2014, 10 am to 5 pm

Venue: 1933 Shanghai

1933老场坊

Address: 611 Liyang Road

溧阳路611号

Admission: 80 yuan (Monday to Friday), 100 yuan (Saturday and Sunday)

Call 400-610-33721 for details