The topic of discussion on this week's installment of the variety show "Za Sekai Gyoten Nyusu (The World's Amazing News)" (Nihon TV, Wednesday, 9 p.m.) is "unprecedented love stories." In particular, hosts Tsurube Shokukutei and Masahiro Nakai, along with their studio guests, listen to the true romantic tale of "an impressive letter that touched the heart of an elderly unmarried woman."

This woman was a noted culinary expert who appeared regularly on television and at special events where she explained cooking tips and demonstrated her own original recipes for popular dishes. For years, she was the object of desire of one ardent male fan, who admired her from afar. This man, who was a music teacher, started writing letters to the cooking expert. The content of these missives, which are read on the air, were uncommonly impressive, and the music teacher and the cooking expert began an intense correspondence. For the longest time, they never met face-to-face, but then he asked her to marry him and she agreed. It was the first marriage for both. She was 77 and he was 56.

Few emigrants to Japan have had as deep a cultural impact as the American William Merrell Vories, though today most people won't recognize the name.