By Barry Crisp
March 1, 2006
 UNIORB: ASIAN TREND: JAPAN |
Sudoku first appeared in the UK when it was launched by The Times newspaper on 12th November 2004 (called Su doku). However, it was not until The Daily Telegraph introduced the puzzle on the front page from 23rd February 2005 to run on a daily basis that the other UK national newspapers began to take a real interest.
By publishing the puzzle on a newspaper front page, it helped boost sales immensely as well as spreading the Sudoku fever. As a nation that loves its crosswords and other general puzzles, it was not a surprise to see how Sudoku became so popular in the UK, even amongst the younger generation. “I saw my dad doing a puzzle, so I decided to try one myself. I really like the mental challenge,” says secondary school student, Keith Waterfield.
The spinoffs from Sudoku have been great, such as, puzzle books, online game web sites, BBC's famous ‘Sudo-Q,’ and other games like Hashi (Bridge). While the Sudoku fever has been beginning to cool down, mobile phone users and Sudoku players have been blessed wonderfully. No longer do they have to buy a newspaper just to play the puzzle, but now they can even download the Sudoku game to their mobile phones, at around £3 for thirty puzzles.
Sudoku (which literally implies ‘numbers singly’) is more then just a game. One can actually win money by playing it on television shows and online web sites. But even more importantly, by playing Sudoku we can feel a sense of self-fulfillment and contentment. Sudoku has proven to be a great stress reliever and has even improved concentration skills according to the puzzle players themselves and online web stats.
However, it appears that Sudoku's fame has unleashed another warrior of a game from Japan - 'Kakuro'. As the latest craze, Kakuro has been noted to be more challenging and a step up in level difficulty from Sudoku. This no doubt is enticing puzzle fans worldwide into leaving their Sudoku puzzle books to catch some dust. Kakuro is slowly appearing in all the national newspapers, and is already widely accessible on the Internet, and with many books on shop shelves.
Kakuro is the new Sudoku - an entertaining and highly addictive Japanese puzzle game. It is known as Cross-Sums in the US, Kakro in Japan, and Kakuro in the UK! Already bigger than Sudoku in Japan, it's predicted to be the next big thing in the puzzle game playing market.
Like Sudoku, Kakuro is played on grids of varying sizes, but is also a mathematical crossword. Each grid consists of blank and filled squares similar to a crossword puzzle. Some filled in squares have a diagonal slash across them with two numbers (one above and one below) - these are the 'clues'. The object of the puzzle is to fill in the squares using the numbers 1 to 9, making sure they add up to the number attached to that row, and without repeating a number.
The original name for Kakuro was ‘Kasan kurosu,’ which is a combination of the Japanese for addition, and the Japanese pronunciation of the English word ‘Cross’. It might surprise UK players to know that Kakuro has been a regular feature in the UK since the early 80s, under the name Cross-Sums.
Was it because it held a more American name that it didn’t become addictive? Or was it because it wasn’t known in its original Japanese name that it didn’t become popular in the UK until recently? “Since the late 20th century, and into the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a silent but constant craze for things oriental, so by introducing such puzzles in their native Japanese names, this would appeal and sell better,” explains schoolteacher, Guy Williams.
The Guardian, which was the first British newspaper to feature Kakuro, did their own research and found that millions prefer Kakuro to Sudoku. The Nikoli Boss, McKee Kaji also stated his preference for Kakuro. “I find Kakuro more interesting then Sudoku. Every puzzle is different. You can’t be absolutely sure you’re right until you’re nearing the end of the puzzle, so there’s a certain mystery involved.”
With many idle minds drifting into the robotic abyss of work and life, the introduction of a wide variety and interesting puzzles into the UK has proved to be a great solution to boredom, and has banished the myth that only "old people" play puzzle games. The Japanese invasion of puzzles has swept through our nation leaving the dust gliding and settling in the air. Kakuro, proving to be the most popular puzzle in the UK at present, acts as the cherry on the cake, or the sweet desert if you like to Sudoku. However, make no mistake, Kakuro is here to stay!
Here are some Kakuro puzzle web site links:
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Barry Crisp
Chouwa-BC
Related Article: Global Interest in Logic Puzzles