My commute in Tokyo was 1h30 each way, so 3h total every day.
How it works is the real estate agents convince you it's going to be 45 minutes, and you think "well it's not that bad".
Having lived in several countries now, I assume some people in the US, particularly if you've never seen a big city (Tokyo has more than 13 million people. The only city in the US that can compare to that kind of density is New York, with 9 million ), must automatically think "it's easy to live closer to where you work, who in their right mind would accept a 1h30 commute???". In massive cities like Tokyo, New York, or London, it's not necessarily easy. Sometimes the only way to live close to work is to make a huge (huge!) compromise on space (500 Square feet for a family of 4 anyone?).
So people are left with the choice: a decent amount of space to live, or a short commute.