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{{Short description|Japanese puzzle designer and businessman}}
{{Short description|Japanese puzzle designer and businessman (1951–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}


{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = <!-- use common name/article title -->
| name = <!-- use common name/article title -->
| image = Maki Kaji (5607045477) (cropped).jpg
| image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption =
| caption = Kaji in 2011
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date = 8 October 1951
| birth_date = 8 October 1951
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| notable_works =
| notable_works =
}}
}}
{{nihongo|'''Maki Kaji'''|鍜治 真起|Kaji Maki|8 October 1951 – 10 August 2021}}<ref>[https://www.daily.co.jp/society/national/2021/08/16/0014596374.shtml?pu=20210816 数独、名付け親の鍜治真起氏死去数字を埋めるパズルゲーム] {{in lang|ja}}</ref> was the president of [[Nikoli (publisher)|Nikoli]] Co., Ltd., a Japanese [[puzzle]] manufacturer. He is widely known as "the father of [[Sudoku]]" for his role in popularizing the number game.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title='Father of Sudoku' puzzles next move |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6745433.stm |website=bbc.co.uk |date=13 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="thenews">{{cite web |title=Japan's 'father of Sudoku' Maki Kaji dead at 69 |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/879567-japans-father-of-sudoku-maki-kaji-dead-at-69 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |date=17 August 2021}}</ref>
{{nihongo|'''Maki Kaji'''|鍜治 真起|Kaji Maki|8 October 1951 – 10 August 2021<ref>[https://www.daily.co.jp/society/national/2021/08/16/0014596374.shtml?pu=20210816 数独、名付け親の鍜治真起氏死去数字を埋めるパズルゲーム] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816095202/https://www.daily.co.jp/society/national/2021/08/16/0014596374.shtml?pu=20210816 |date=16 August 2021 }} {{in lang|ja}}</ref>}} was a Japanese businessman who was the president of [[Nikoli (publisher)|Nikoli]], a [[puzzle]] manufacturer. He is widely known as "the father of [[Sudoku]]" for his role in popularizing the number game.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title='Father of Sudoku' puzzles next move |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6745433.stm |website=bbc.co.uk |date=13 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="thenews">{{cite web |title=Japan's 'father of Sudoku' Maki Kaji dead at 69 |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/879567-japans-father-of-sudoku-maki-kaji-dead-at-69 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |date=17 August 2021}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life==
Kaji was born in [[Sapporo]] on 8 October 1951.<ref name=NYTOBIT>{{cite news |last1=Albeck-Ripka|first1=Livia|last2=Ueno|first2=Hisako|date=17 August 2021|title=Maki Kaji, ‘Godfather of Sudoku,’ Dies at 69|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/world/asia/maki-kaji-dead.html|work=The New York Times|location=New York|access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="APNEWS">{{cite web |title=Sudoku maker Maki Kaji, who saw life's joy in puzzles, dies |url=https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-business-arts-and-entertainment-723bd1246300dbe094df16cab0a9fe8e |website=AP NEWS |date=17 August 2021}}</ref> His father worked as an engineer at a telecom company; his mother was employed by a kimono shop. Kaji attended [[Shakujii High School]] in his hometown. He later studied literature at [[Keio University]], but dropped out during his first year.<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref name="APJJF">{{cite web |last1=McNeill |first1=David |title=Kaji Maki: First he gave us sudoku |url=https://apjjf.org/-David-McNeill/2415/article.html |website=apjjf.org}}</ref> After a succession of jobs including being a roadie, a waiter and a construction worker, he started a publishing business.<ref name="APJJF"/>
Kaji was born in [[Sapporo]] on 8 October 1951.<ref name=NYTOBIT>{{cite news |last1=Albeck-Ripka|first1=Livia|last2=Ueno|first2=Hisako|date=17 August 2021|title=Maki Kaji, 'Godfather of Sudoku,' Dies at 69|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/world/asia/maki-kaji-dead.html|work=The New York Times|location=New York|access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="APNEWS">{{cite web |title=Sudoku maker Maki Kaji, who saw life's joy in puzzles, dies |url=https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-business-arts-and-entertainment-723bd1246300dbe094df16cab0a9fe8e |website=AP NEWS |date=17 August 2021}}</ref> His father worked as an engineer at a telecom company; his mother was employed by a kimono shop. Kaji attended [[Shakujii High School]] in his hometown. He later studied literature at [[Keio University]], but dropped out during his first year.<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref name="APJJF">{{cite web |last1=McNeill |first1=David |title=Kaji Maki: First he gave us sudoku |url=https://apjjf.org/-David-McNeill/2415/article.html |website=apjjf.org|date=2 May 2007 }}</ref> After a succession of jobs including being a roadie, a waiter and a construction worker, he started a publishing business.<ref name="APJJF"/>


==Career==
==Career==
Kaji launched a quarterly puzzle magazine in 1980 called ''Nikoli'',<ref name=BellosBook>{{cite book |last1=Bellos |first1=Alex |title=Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math |date=2010 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-9634-9 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Here_s_Looking_at_Euclid/9m9tNj2w2bcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22maki+kaji%22&pg=PA151}}</ref> together with two friends from his childhood.<ref name=NYTOBIT/> They named the magazine after a [[Nikoli (horse)|race horse]] that had won the 1980 [[Irish 2,000 Guineas|2000 Guineas Stakes]] race in Ireland.<ref name="APJJF" /><ref name=NYT/> Three years later, he founded a company under the same name.<ref name="APNEWS"/> The magazine, the company's main product, grew to have 50,000 quarterly readers.<ref name="ORLANDOSENT"/>
Kaji launched a quarterly puzzle magazine in 1980 called ''Nikoli'',<ref name=BellosBook>{{cite book |last1=Bellos |first1=Alex |title=Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math |date=2010 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-9634-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9m9tNj2w2bcC&dq=%22maki+kaji%22&pg=PA151}}</ref> together with two friends from his childhood.<ref name=NYTOBIT/> They named the magazine after a [[Nikoli (horse)|race horse]] that had won the 1980 [[Irish 2,000 Guineas|2000 Guineas Stakes]] race in Ireland.<ref name="APJJF" /><ref name=NYT/> Three years later, he founded a company under the same name.<ref name="APNEWS"/> The magazine, the company's main product, grew to have 50,000 quarterly readers.<ref name="ORLANDOSENT"/>


The number game [[Sudoku]] appeared in early issues of ''Nikoli''.<ref name=BellosBook/> His interest in the puzzle piqued after encountering it in 1984 under the title "Number Place". He formulated the name "Sudoku" while he was scrambling to get to a horse race.<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref name="BBC obit">{{cite news|title=Sudoku: Maki Kaji, puzzle enthusiast, dies aged 69|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58243126|date=17 August 2021|access-date=17 August 2021|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> He shortened it from ''Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru'' ("numbers should be single") at the urging of his fellow workers.<ref name="BBC obit"/> After the game spread to Britain<ref name=Smith>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/may/15/pressandpublishing.usnews |title=So you thought Sudoku came from the Land of the Rising Sun ...|first=David |last=Smith |newspaper=The Observer |date=15 May 2005 |access-date=13 June 2008 |quote=The puzzle gripping the nation actually began at a small New York magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Devlin |first=Keith |title=The Numbers Game (book review of ''Taking Sudoku Seriously'' by Jason Rosenhouse et al.) |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |location=Weekend Edition |page=C5 |date= 28–29 January 2012}}</ref> and the United States,<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/business/worldbusiness/21sudoku.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq&st=cse%22Conway%20Daily%20Sun&scp=1%22%202004%20gould |title=Correction attached to "Inside Japan's Puzzle Palace" |newspaper=The New York Times |date=21 March 2007}}</ref> it became wildly popular.<ref name=BellosBook/>
The number game [[Sudoku]] appeared in early issues of ''Nikoli''.<ref name=BellosBook/> He formulated the name "Sudoku" while he was scrambling to get to a horse race.<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref name="BBC obit">{{cite news|title=Sudoku: Maki Kaji, puzzle enthusiast, dies aged 69|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58243126|date=17 August 2021|access-date=17 August 2021|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> He shortened it from ''Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru'' ("numbers should be single") at the urging of his fellow workers.<ref name="BBC obit"/> After the game spread to Britain<ref name=Smith>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/may/15/pressandpublishing.usnews |title=So you thought Sudoku came from the Land of the Rising Sun ...|first=David |last=Smith |newspaper=The Observer |date=15 May 2005 |access-date=13 June 2008 |quote=The puzzle gripping the nation actually began at a small New York magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Devlin |first=Keith |title=The Numbers Game (book review of ''Taking Sudoku Seriously'' by Jason Rosenhouse et al.) |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |location=Weekend Edition |page=C5 |date= 29 January 2012}}</ref> and the United States,<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/business/worldbusiness/21sudoku.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq&st=cse%22Conway%20Daily%20Sun&scp=1%22%202004%20gould |title=Correction attached to "Inside Japan's Puzzle Palace" |newspaper=The New York Times |date=21 March 2007}}</ref> it became wildly popular.<ref name=BellosBook/>


Kaji also invented or introduced various other puzzle games, such as [[Masyu]].<ref name="ORLANDOSENT">{{cite web |last1=Times |first1=Martin Fackler the New York |title=Sudoku's successors? |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2007-03-22-a2story22-story.html |website=OrlandoSentinel.com}}</ref> He resigned as head of [[Nikoli (publisher)|Nikoli]] in July 2021, one month before his death.<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref name="Reuters obit">{{cite news|title=Japan's Kaji, the "godfather of Sudoku," dies at 69|url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/japans-kaji-godfather-sudoku-dies-69-2021-08-17/|first1=Tim|last1=Kelly|first2=Elaine|last2=Lies|date=16 August 2021|access-date=16 August 2021|agency=Reuters}}</ref>
Kaji also invented or introduced various other puzzle games, such as [[Masyu]].<ref name="ORLANDOSENT">{{cite web |last1=Times |first1=Martin Fackler the New York |title=Sudoku's successors? |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2007-03-22-a2story22-story.html |website=OrlandoSentinel.com|date=22 March 2007 }}</ref> He resigned as head of [[Nikoli (publisher)|Nikoli]] on 31 July 2021,<ref name=NikoliWebsite>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/|title = Nikoli| date=3 June 2024 }}</ref> ten days before his death.<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref name="Reuters obit">{{cite news|title=Japan's Kaji, the "godfather of Sudoku," dies at 69|url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/japans-kaji-godfather-sudoku-dies-69-2021-08-17/|first1=Tim|last1=Kelly|first2=Elaine|last2=Lies|date=16 August 2021|access-date=16 August 2021|work=Reuters}}</ref> He was succeeded as president by Nikoli's editor in chief, Yoshinao Anpuku.<ref name=NikoliWebsite/>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Kaji was married to Naomi until his death. Together, they had two children.<ref name=NYTOBIT/>
Kaji was married to Naomi until his death. Together, they had two children.<ref name=NYTOBIT/>


Kaji died on 10 August 2021 at his home in [[Tokyo]] at age 69, from [[bile duct cancer]].<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref>{{Cite web|last=CNN|first=Scottie Andrew|title=Maki Kaji, the 'godfather of Sudoku,' dies at 69|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/17/world/maki-kaji-sudoku-death-trnd/index.html|access-date=18 August 2021|website=CNN}}</ref>
Kaji died on 10 August 2021 at his home in [[Tokyo]] at age 69, from [[bile duct cancer]].<ref name=NYTOBIT/><ref>{{Cite web|author=Scottie Andrew|title=Maki Kaji, the 'godfather of Sudoku,' dies at 69|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/17/world/maki-kaji-sudoku-death-trnd/index.html|access-date=18 August 2021|website=CNN|date=17 August 2021 }}</ref> Nikoli's staff held a memorial gathering for him on 2 November in Tokyo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nikoli.co.jp/ja/remember-meeting-of-maki-kaji/|title = Remember meeting of Maki Kaji &#124; nikoli| date=29 September 2021 }}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:People from Sapporo]]
[[Category:People from Sapporo]]
[[Category:Puzzle designers]]
[[Category:Puzzle designers]]
⚫
[[Category:Puzzle video games]]
[[Category:Sudoku]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Japan]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Japan]]
⚫
[[Category:Keio University alumni]]

Latest revision as of 10:17, 18 October 2024

Maki Kaji
Kaji in 2011
Born8 October 1951
Sapporo, Japan
Died10 August 2021(2021-08-10) (aged 69)
Tokyo, Japan

Maki Kaji (鍜治 真起, Kaji Maki, 8 October 1951 – 10 August 2021[1]) was a Japanese businessman who was the president of Nikoli, a puzzle manufacturer. He is widely known as "the father of Sudoku" for his role in popularizing the number game.[2][3]

Early life

[edit]

Kaji was born in Sapporo on 8 October 1951.[4][5] His father worked as an engineer at a telecom company; his mother was employed by a kimono shop. Kaji attended Shakujii High School in his hometown. He later studied literature at Keio University, but dropped out during his first year.[4][6] After a succession of jobs including being a roadie, a waiter and a construction worker, he started a publishing business.[6]

Career

[edit]

Kaji launched a quarterly puzzle magazine in 1980 called Nikoli,[7] together with two friends from his childhood.[4] They named the magazine after a race horse that had won the 1980 2000 Guineas Stakes race in Ireland.[6][8] Three years later, he founded a company under the same name.[5] The magazine, the company's main product, grew to have 50,000 quarterly readers.[9]

The number game Sudoku appeared in early issues of Nikoli.[7] He formulated the name "Sudoku" while he was scrambling to get to a horse race.[4][10] He shortened it from Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru ("numbers should be single") at the urging of his fellow workers.[10] After the game spread to Britain[11][12] and the United States,[8] it became wildly popular.[7]

Kaji also invented or introduced various other puzzle games, such as Masyu.[9] He resigned as head of Nikoli on 31 July 2021,[13] ten days before his death.[4][14] He was succeeded as president by Nikoli's editor in chief, Yoshinao Anpuku.[13]

Personal life

[edit]

Kaji was married to Naomi until his death. Together, they had two children.[4]

Kaji died on 10 August 2021 at his home in Tokyo at age 69, from bile duct cancer.[4][15] Nikoli's staff held a memorial gathering for him on 2 November in Tokyo.[16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 数独、名付け親の鍜治真起氏死去数字を埋めるパズルゲーム Archived 16 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
  2. ^ "'Father of Sudoku' puzzles next move". bbc.co.uk. 13 June 2007.
  3. ^ "Japan's 'father of Sudoku' Maki Kaji dead at 69". www.thenews.com.pk. 17 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Albeck-Ripka, Livia; Ueno, Hisako (17 August 2021). "Maki Kaji, 'Godfather of Sudoku,' Dies at 69". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Sudoku maker Maki Kaji, who saw life's joy in puzzles, dies". AP NEWS. 17 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c McNeill, David (2 May 2007). "Kaji Maki: First he gave us sudoku". apjjf.org.
  7. ^ a b c Bellos, Alex (2010). Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-9634-9.
  8. ^ a b "Correction attached to "Inside Japan's Puzzle Palace"". The New York Times. 21 March 2007.
  9. ^ a b Times, Martin Fackler the New York (22 March 2007). "Sudoku's successors?". OrlandoSentinel.com.
  10. ^ a b "Sudoku: Maki Kaji, puzzle enthusiast, dies aged 69". BBC News. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  11. ^ Smith, David (15 May 2005). "So you thought Sudoku came from the Land of the Rising Sun ..." The Observer. Retrieved 13 June 2008. The puzzle gripping the nation actually began at a small New York magazine
  12. ^ Devlin, Keith (29 January 2012). "The Numbers Game (book review of Taking Sudoku Seriously by Jason Rosenhouse et al.)". The Wall Street Journal. Weekend Edition. p. C5.
  13. ^ a b "Nikoli". 3 June 2024.
  14. ^ Kelly, Tim; Lies, Elaine (16 August 2021). "Japan's Kaji, the "godfather of Sudoku," dies at 69". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  15. ^ Scottie Andrew (17 August 2021). "Maki Kaji, the 'godfather of Sudoku,' dies at 69". CNN. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Remember meeting of Maki Kaji | nikoli". 29 September 2021.
[edit]
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