The relationships between Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Shinji and Hatsue in The Sound of Waves were disapproved of by both of their families. Romeo and Juliet came from different backgrounds. Romeo was a Montague and Juliet was a Capulet. The Montagues and the Capulets had been rivals for a long time. Juliet said to herself, "Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or, if thou will not, be but sworn my love, and I 'll no longer be a Capulet." (p. 71) Although Hatsue 's and Shinji 's families were not rivals, Hatsue 's father heard a rumor about his daughter and Shinji that upset him very much. He therefore banned Hatsue from having any contact from Shinji. Hatsue said to Shinji, "Last night at the bath Father heard some very bad gossip about us and became terribly angry and commanded that I must never see Shinji-san again." (p. 110) Both families, for different reasons, did everything in their power to keep the loved ones apart.
The characters in both books also had to overcome obstacles dealing with their relationships. One obstacle that Shinji and Hatsue had to overcome was their not being allowed to see each other. Due to the bad rumors that Hatsue 's dad heard in the bath house, he would not allow Hatsue to get near Shinji. Hatsue wrote notes and placed them under the lid of the community water container.