Similarly among the common people, a young man would visit the parents of the lady and asked her parents for her hands in marriage. Labour played an essential role in life of the common people. Labour practices vary from places. In certain areas of Japan, such as the Tohoku area in the north, a groom would live with his bride's family to offer his labour for a certain length of time. While in other parts of the country such as the Izu Islands, a wife would work for the family of her husband while her husband would offer his labour to her family. It is worth noting that such labour arrangement is still being practised to this day in marriages where the man is adopted into the family of the bride upon marriage. A third and more common family labour arrangement was for the groom and the bride to offer their labour to their respective families. In such a case, the husband would visit his wife nightly to maintain their union in marriage.