On her first date with her stoop-shouldered "prince," Tae, a 77-year-old widow, felt her heart flutter in her chest as she gazed with him toward brightly lit Tokyo Tower.

While this may just be a scene from a recent Japanese movie about a gray-haired couple's romance, what it describes is a growing reality for increasing numbers of Japan's elderly, who are reaching out in droves for a last chance at love.

Bunji Sotoyama, the director of "San San" ("A Sparkle of Life"), says the theme of his movie is a good fit for Japan's rapidly aging society.