Maki Kaji "came up with the name Sudoku and was loved by puzzle fans from all over the world," his company said Jason Hahn is a former Human Interest and Sports Reporter for PEOPLE. He started at ...

FILE — Maki Kaji stands for a portrait at Nakayama Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi, Japan on March 3, 2007. Kaji, a university dropout who turned a numbers game into one of the world’s most popular ...

Maki Kaji, a creator of the popular numbers puzzle Sudoku whose life's work was spreading the joy of puzzles, has died, his Japanese company said Tuesday. He was 69 and had bile duct cancer. Known as ...