A man I sometimes work with built a house in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 10 years ago when he was 30 years old. At the time he was working for one of Japan's most prominent trading companies, and had been ever since he graduated from university. He chose Hiratsuka because it's on the JR Tokaido line, which would take him straight to his office in Shinagawa. The commute was an hour each way. He was living the dream, Japan style.
Four years later his department was discontinued when his employer merged with another trading company. He was let go and eventually found work with a travel agency where he earns less money, thus making his mortgage payments more of a burden, a situation he describes as "loan hell." Even worse, his commute now takes more than 90 minutes each way. He says he would like to sell his house and move his family into a rental property closer to his office, but there are no buyers. He's stuck there.
This man blames the economy; in other words, forces beyond anyone's control. But Japan's economy started sliding before he bought his house, even before he started working for the trading company. He entered into home ownership with an optimistic attitude reinforced by an inflexible belief in a status quo that was already history. He had graduated from a name university and immediately found employment with a name company, which is how the system is supposed to work. By rights he would work for this company the rest of his life, so buying a house beyond his immediate means did not seem reckless.