SUDOKU CREATOR MAKI KAJI PASSES AWAY AT 69

  • 17/08/2021

 Maki Kaji, the creator of the popular Sudoku, whose life's work was spreading the joy of puzzles, has died, his Japanese company said Tuesday. He was 69 and had bile duct cancer.Known as the 'Godfather of Sudoku', Kaji created the puzzle to be easy for children and others who didn't want to think too hard. Its name is made up of the Japanese characters for 'number' and 'single', and players place the numbers 1 through 9 in rows, columns and blocks without repeating them.Maki had travelled to more than 30 countries, spreading his enjoyment of puzzles. Sudoku championships have drawn some 200 million people in 100 countries over the years.

"Kaji-san came up with the name Sudoku and was loved by puzzle fans from all over the world. We are grateful from the bottom of our hearts for the patronage you have shown throughout his life," the company said in a statement.Originally, Sudoku was called 'Suji-wa-Dokushin-ni-Kagiru', which translates to, 'Numbers should be single, a bachelor'. In recent years, Sudoku, believed to be the world's most popular pencil puzzle, has come out in digital versions.Born in the main northern island of Hokkaido, Maki started Japan's first puzzle magazine after dropping out of Keio University in Tokyo. He founded Nikoli in 1983, and came up with Sudoku about the same time.

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