Some court each other in cities far away from where their parents and relatives live. After marriage they have to learn to adjust to the new network of relationships. It is particularly important if they live in an extended family household. In the majority of the cases women move into the household of their husband and there they discover that some of the worries and adjustments they talked about so blithely before marriage are more troublesome than they could have imagined. Cultural anthropologists tell us that one of the most important things in a family is the management of in-law relationships.
Japanese couples are no exceptions.
Whether they live in an extended family or nuclear family, the relationships with the in-laws demand a lot of attention. Some learn to manage the new family relationships successfully while others take a long time to be properly initiated into the new network of relatives.