I feel the Japanese struggle within their overcrowded society and that "specialization" is a way that one can have his own corner of freedom. If you go over there, you will notice that people work extraneously long hours, get paid little, and are constantly playing an intricate interaction model where seniority, class, sex, origins all play major roles. This is why so many went into video games, anime or manga. They need an escape. And just as you find that drive within their work, which is at the most strict expectation level, you can find traces of it in their hobbies.