Biography:Maki Kaji

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Short description: Japanese puzzle designer and businessman (1951–2021)


Maki Kaji
Maki Kaji (5607045477) (cropped).jpg
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

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

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] 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.[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

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

  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 (in Japanese)
  2. ↑ "'Father of Sudoku' puzzles next move". 13 June 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6745433.stm. 
  3. ↑ "Japan's 'father of Sudoku' Maki Kaji dead at 69". 17 August 2021. https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/879567-japans-father-of-sudoku-maki-kaji-dead-at-69. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Albeck-Ripka, Livia; Ueno, Hisako (17 August 2021). "Maki Kaji, 'Godfather of Sudoku,' Dies at 69". The New York Times (New York). https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/world/asia/maki-kaji-dead.html. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Sudoku maker Maki Kaji, who saw life's joy in puzzles, dies". 17 August 2021. https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-business-arts-and-entertainment-723bd1246300dbe094df16cab0a9fe8e. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 McNeill, David. "Kaji Maki: First he gave us sudoku". https://apjjf.org/-David-McNeill/2415/article.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 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. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Here_s_Looking_at_Euclid/9m9tNj2w2bcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22maki+kaji%22&pg=PA151. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Correction attached to "Inside Japan's Puzzle Palace"". The New York Times. 21 March 2007. 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. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Times, Martin Fackler the New York. "Sudoku's successors?". https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2007-03-22-a2story22-story.html. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Sudoku: Maki Kaji, puzzle enthusiast, dies aged 69". BBC News. 17 August 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58243126. 
  11. ↑ Smith, David (15 May 2005). "So you thought Sudoku came from the Land of the Rising Sun ...". The Observer. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/may/15/pressandpublishing.usnews. "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. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Nikoli". https://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/. 
  14. ↑ Kelly, Tim; Lies, Elaine (16 August 2021). "Japan's Kaji, the "godfather of Sudoku," dies at 69". Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/japans-kaji-godfather-sudoku-dies-69-2021-08-17/. 
  15. ↑ Scottie Andrew. "Maki Kaji, the 'godfather of Sudoku,' dies at 69". https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/17/world/maki-kaji-sudoku-death-trnd/index.html. 
  16. ↑ "Remember meeting of Maki Kaji | nikoli". https://www.nikoli.co.jp/ja/remember-meeting-of-maki-kaji/. 

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