We have all had one or two unforgettably heartfelt encounters in our lives, whether long-lost first loves or more distant crushes whose intensity it is still possible, years later, to reconjure with ease.

As humdrum reality takes over, though, such feelings tend to become buried away in memory and only resurface once in a while. As a result, any thoughts of trying to reconnect with those involved are generally abandoned for want of the time or means to find them.

But it ain't necessarily so — and in Japan it's to 53-year-old Atsuko Sato that many turn when the need to revisit past loves or missed opportunities becomes too poignant to be ignored any more.