Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty
Maki Kaji, the puzzle publisher who helped make Sudoku one of the world’s most popular games, died of bile duct cancer, his company announced. He was 69.
“Maki Kaji, who spread the love of puzzles in the world as ‘Godfather of Sudoku,’ passed away at 10:54 PM on August 10, 2021 at home in Tokyo,” Nikoli Co. wrote in astatement.
Kaji wanted it featured in his magazine — but he had one problem.
“The name, Number Place, did not hit me,” he said in2008. “I wanted to create a Japanese name.”
Instead, Kaji named his version of the game “Suji-wa-Dokushin-ni-Kagiru,” which translates to “Numbers should be single, a bachelor,” theAssociated Pressreported.
Marvin Joseph/The The Washington Post via Getty
But the name wasn’t a hit amongst his colleagues, and Kaji — before rushing to make it to a horse race on time — came up with “Sudoku” as the new name, BBC reported.
While the game had a following, it didn’t become a global sensation until many years later in 2004,when a fan askedThe Timesto feature itin an upcoming edition of the British newspaper. Sudoku has been one of the world’s most popular games ever since.
Kaji had remained the CEO of his company, Nikoli Co., until July 31, 2021, when he handed the position to its former editor-in-chief, Yoshinao Anpuku.
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Kaji did not receive financial gain from Sudoku and did not trademark the game outside of Japan, the AP said. But wealth was not the goal he had in mind when launching his puzzle magazine so many years ago.
“I get really moved when I see a new idea for a puzzle which has lots of potential,“he once told the BBC.
“I get really excited about it,” he added. “It is like finding treasure.”
source: people.com
