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This is often depression from failure to meet early career expectations. The Japanese, like many Asian cultures, are a highly driven society where career goals are set very early in life by the parents. In such a competitive society, failure to secure a highly sought after starting job with a good company, after attending some of the best colleges & universities, is a social stigma, and causes withdrawal from friends and family members. Prolonged withdrawal often turns into a real clinical depression. The protective nature of the Asian family allows this withdrawal from society to continue longer than initially planned, and soon their motivation to move forward in life is lost. Prolonged lack of work becomes hard to explain in resumes and job interviews, which further perpetuates this unfortunate phenomena.

This societal situation combined with Japans's extreme economic shift (from miracle economy to great stagnation)to create this perfect storm that is Hikikomori.