4/87Number of mazes built in Japan since 1985: 14

Wall Street Journal

    Number of Japanese who pay to find their way through one each week: 140,000

Wall Street Journal

6/07Ratio in 1985 of the number of new homes with two or fewer bedrooms to the number with four or more: 4:3

U.S. Census Bureau

    Ratio today: 1:3

U.S. Census Bureau

4/95Percentage of Americans whose homes are equipped with a padded toilet seat: 26

KRC Research & Consulting (N.Y.C.)

7/95Percentage change in the number of rural Americans living in mobile homes between 1980 and 1990: +52

Housing Assistance Council (Washington)

9/05Number of consecutive years that the value of housing in Japan has dropped since its housing bubble burst: 14

Japan Real Estate Institute (Tokyo)