Awww....I was scrolling through msn and just saw a post (from this morning) that Maki Kaji, the creator of (my MOST favorite hobby and past-time) the numbers puzzle Sudoku, whose life's work was spreading the joy of puzzles, has died from bile duct cancer.
Known as the 'Godfather of Sudoku', Kaji had created the puzzle to be easy for children and others who didn't want to think too hard. The name 'Sudoku' is made up of the Japanese characters for 'number' and single,' where the numbers 1 through 9 are placed in rows, columns and blocks without repeating them.
After dropping out of Keio University in Tokyo, he founded Nikoli in 1983 and came up with Sudoku around the same time. Nikoli has provided original puzzles to more than 100 media companies, 10 of them foreign ones. He'd traveled to more than 30 countries spreading his enjoyment of puzzles. Sudoku championships have drawn over 200 million people in 100 countries over the years!
patronage shown throughout his life.'
According to the article, it Sudoku only became a global hit in 2004 when a New Zealand fan pitched and had it published in The Times newspaper. Two years later, Japan rediscovered the puzzle as a 'gyakuyunyu' or 'reimport.'
A major Japanese newspaper Mainichi in its obituary credited Kaji for starting the puzzles sections at bookstores, as well as introducing the word ' Sudoku' into the Oxfor English dictionary. !!!
The extraordinary impact Kaji-san has had on my life cannot be adequately explained. It played a gigantic role in my recovery period, so much that I had even written a speech about Sudoku (Hobby - Sudoku - 'Going Out Of My Mind) in my 2018 toastmasters group (Mon Sheong Inspired Toastmasters)
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