Searching for love on the reality TV series "The Bachelor Japan," a record number of women have already applied for the show's third season, set to stream on Amazon Prime Video later this year. Bosses at the paid subscription service will no doubt be hoping for more of the same regarding viewing figures following the success of last year's series, which finished with IT executive Rintaro Oyaizu proposing to illustrator Mami Kurata.

For contestant Nanako Oguchi, however, it was a case of what might have been. The then-trainee accountant made it to the final two with Oyaizu revealing that she had "set his heart racing" more than anyone else. In the end, though, he didn't see her as a prospective wife.

"I was heartbroken," Oguchi, 28, tells The Japan Times in English. "It all happened so fast. You're on this amazing adventure and suddenly it's over. I wasn't ready. Mami was the person I'd gotten closest to during the series, so I was effectively saying goodbye to a good friend and a potential boyfriend at once. I was then quickly taken away in the limousine before spending the night on my own at the hotel drinking wine."