Sudoku

Sudoku, the number-placement puzzle, was published in the United States in 1979, named and popularised in Japan in the 1980s and became a worldwide newspaper fixture after 2004.

How it is played

A nine-by-nine grid, divided into nine boxes, is partly filled with digits. The solver completes it so that every row, column and box contains the digits one to nine exactly once, by logic alone.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of Japan.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Modern Heritage (1800 to today), within the cultural world of Japan and Korea.