Maki Kaji, who is known as the 'godfather' of Sudoku, the favorite puzzle of more than 200 million people in more than 100 countries of the world, has died of cancer at the age of 69. Kaji's company Nikolai informed about his death. Sudoku was invented by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in the 18th century. But it was made by the popular Kaji.
In 1980, he gave it a place in his magazine. People liked it so much that it had to be brought to its digital avatar. Since 2006, its World Championships have been organized every year. In this also the Kaji was called.
Born in Sapporo in 1951, Kaji attended Keio University after high school. But in 1970, several classes were canceled due to opposition to the Japan-US Security Agreement. Kaji had to drop his studies and joined a printing company. During this, his eyes were fixed on this crossword with a number game in an American magazine.
In 1980, he, along with friends, launched Japan's first puzzle magazine, Puzzle Sushin Nikoli. In this started the puzzle with the title 'Numbers should be left alone, bachelor'. Its short name 'Sudoku' became very popular. In 1983 he founded the Nikolai Company. Kaji continued to create and improve puzzles in the quarterly Puzzle Magazine.
His company started publishing puzzle books one after the other. This led to the appearance of puzzle corners in book stores in Japan. In 2004, a fan of British origin saw it during a trip to Japan and found a place in The Times paper. Nikoli claims that the Sudoku Championship attracted more than 200 million people in 100 countries.