Fushimi Roku squinted his eyes and once again caught the scent of a scandal.
Minamoto Tamako pointed again to the elderly couple with round glasses: "Mr. and Mrs. Yoshida run a glass workshop. When I was little, I broke the neighbor's window, and Grandpa specially went to their place to cut a new glass as an apology!"
The glass craft in Otaru is considered a local characteristic industry with many small handmade workshops along the coast.
Fushimi Roku's gaze swept over a skinny old man in the corner, and Minamoto Tamako, following his line of sight, added: "Uncle Sugiyama Saburo is a fisherman. In winter, Grandpa often helps him mend his broken fishing nets…"
The old man nodded in greeting to Fushimi Roku, and that's just how Japanese socializing is: nodding when sitting, bowing when standing, and exchanging "hai hai" with each other.
Minamoto Tamako looked at an old woman wearing an apron and said, "Granny Yamaguchi opened a bathhouse…"
