SAKAI, Fukui Prefecture--As a small business operator, Kazu Nakagawa knows the importance of repeat customers.
In his case, four grey herons "patronize" his fish shop on a near-daily basis, to the delight of neighbors.
The fish shop is in this city's Maruoka district, a residential area, but that has not stopped the birds from turning up for close on 20 years.
“I feel something is amiss when they don't appear,” said Nakagawa, 88.
The birds began appearing after he started feeding bits of fish pieces to crows to prevent them from rummaging for food in plastic bags of garbage nearby, and making an unsightly mess.
The grey herons show up early in the day when his 57-year-old son, Koji, is preparing to open the shop.
Although it seems unlikely that the same birds have been coming back for 20 years, Nakagawa said one with a crooked toe is a frequent visitor of many years standing.
