121. Bölüm: Mariko, Yamaoka'nın bağımsızlığını överken Niki, kırılgan nesnelerden insan hayatını kıymetli bulur.

121

Chairman Niki asks Mariko, his granddaughter, what she sees in Yamaoka. Mariko answers that she thinks Yamaoka is a free spirit who is unafraid to go against the expectations and restraints of society. Chairman Niki meets with President Ohara and inquires about Yamaoka. Ohara describes Yamaoka as a lazy and difficult employee who doesn't follow orders. Niki then angrily asks him why he let his granddaughter work with such a man and leaves abruptly. Niki meets Tōjin Tōyama in a restaurant and Tōyama has invited Yamaoka to join him. Tōyama presents Niki with a precious tea bowl he has made but a waitress accidentally chips the bowl which causes Niki to scream at her in fury. Yamaoka thinks back to a time when his father yelled at him for breaking a plate. He goes to the kitchen and brings back soba flour and uses the broken bowl to make dough (sobagaki) and offers Niki and Tōyama to eat it with soy sauce. Yamaoka says that all precious things can be broken but human life is the most precious of all. Chairman Niki regrets his outburst and apologizes to the waitress. Later, Niki and Ohara meet over a meal and Niki says he likes Yamaoka and would allow him to marry into the Niki family. (Source: Wikipedia)