:Maki Kaji
{{Short description|Japanese puzzle designer and businessman (1951–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Maki Kaji (5607045477) (cropped).jpg
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| caption = Kaji in 2011
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 8 October 1951
| birth_place = Sapporo, Japan
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|08|10|1951|10|08|df=y}}
| death_place = Tokyo, Japan
| nationality =
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}}
{{nihongo|Maki Kaji|鍜治 真起|Kaji Maki|8 October 1951 – 10 August 2021[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}}}} 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.{{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}}{{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}}
Early life
Kaji was born in Sapporo on 8 October 1951.{{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}}{{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}} 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.{{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 }} After a succession of jobs including being a roadie, a waiter and a construction worker, he started a publishing business.
Career
Kaji launched a quarterly puzzle magazine in 1980 called Nikoli,{{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}} together with two friends from his childhood. They named the magazine after a race horse that had won the 1980 2000 Guineas Stakes race in Ireland. Three years later, he founded a company under the same name. The magazine, the company's main product, grew to have 50,000 quarterly readers.
The number game Sudoku appeared in early issues of Nikoli. He formulated the name "Sudoku" while he was scrambling to get to a horse race.{{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}} He shortened it from Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru ("numbers should be single") at the urging of his fellow workers. After the game spread to Britain{{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}}{{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}} and the United States,{{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}} it became wildly popular.
Kaji also invented or introduced various other puzzle games, such as Masyu.{{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 }} He resigned as head of Nikoli on 31 July 2021,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/|title = Nikoli| date=3 June 2024 }} ten days before his death.{{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}} He was succeeded as president by Nikoli's editor in chief, Yoshinao Anpuku.
Personal life
Kaji was married to Naomi until his death. Together, they had two children.
Kaji died on 10 August 2021 at his home in Tokyo at age 69, from bile duct cancer.{{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 }} Nikoli's staff held a memorial gathering for him on 2 November in Tokyo.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nikoli.co.jp/ja/remember-meeting-of-maki-kaji/|title = Remember meeting of Maki Kaji | nikoli| date=29 September 2021 }}
References
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070517094402/http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2502489.ece "Maki Kaji: First he gave us sudoku"]—Daily Independent (UK) newspaper article
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Category:Deaths from cholangiocarcinoma in Japan