Sudoku: Youth Strikes Back
Eino Korkala and other enemies of dullness are returning thousands of Sudoku puzzles from whence they came - Japan
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By Leena Sandström
When you see him sitting there in an Oulu café, 21-year-old Eino Korkala looks pretty much like your normal student.
But he is a Man on a Mission.
Korkala is one of the founding members of Youth Against Sudoku.
The movement's manifesto begins as follows:
In the year 1979, a new evil received its impetus. The world was ready. An Austrian architect designed a chart which was to be filled with numbers from one to nine. The Japanese became enchanted with the game in the mid-1980s. In the land of the rising sun the disease prospered, and within its nutritious soil it built up the strength to conquer the world. In November 2004, the time was ripe for the infestation of Europe. A British newspaper, "The Times", began to publish sudoku charts on a daily basis, and soon other newspapers followed its lead. In Finland the first newspaper to cave in was "Helsingin Sanomat", in September 2005.
Sudoku. Will this mania ever stop?
According to the manifesto, the movement's task is to root out the evil, for the swarms of sudoku puzzles "turn our world black and white, unimaginatively logical, and statically squared".
Youth Against Sudoku came into being this spring at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences (formerly Oulu Polytechnic), when a group of communications and media studies undergraduates used to gather around a cafeteria table.
"All the papers were full of sudoku puzzles. We started talking about what was happening around us. The most outrageous one was when some car dealer advertised that people buying a new such-and-such model would get a free book of sudoku puzzles with it", reports Korkala.
One of the group posted up the immortal declaration "Youth Against Sudoku" on a flip-board in the room. The next day, when a comment in support of the puzzles had appeared beneath the words, the fifteen dissidents decided it was time to act.
Web-pages and a plan of action emerged in short order.
"Our objective was to collect a thousand sudoku puzzles in the space of six months, and to deport them back to Japan where they came from. We now already have 2,227 sudokos awaiting shipment", reveals Korkala.
The sudokus could be sent in by post or placed in one of six bins around Oulu.
The movement is not open to members as such, but supporters can show their colours by buying T-shirts, which have been on sale through the summer.
Many encouraging messages have also come in from like-minded souls.
Korkala, who is studying visual communications, has designed the visual aspects of the campaign and built the movement's website.
"From the bags under my eyes I have occasionally noticed that there has been quite a lot to be done alongside my normal work", admits Korkala, who is currently on a traineeship in an advertising agency.
The web pages have been updated on a regular basis, and supporters of the cause will be able to follow online the despatch of the offending puzzles back to the Japanese Minstry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.
Korkala charges that phenomena like sudoku, which start bursting out everywhere, should be questioned.
"Many journalists have told us that if the sudoku puzzle has for some reason not appeared in the paper, the phone has been ringing all day with complaints and queries. Some people simply cannot cope without their daily sudoku fix."
Hmm. An interesting project for media studies undergraduates. This wouldn't by any chance be a way of bench-testing publicity?
"Um. Yep. It's a fair cop", confesses Korkala. "In six months we have learnt more than in two years at school: how to bring a story to the public, how much one is able to influence the message, and at what point it gets out of control."
Stories about YAS have appeared in 13 papers over the past six months. There have been plenty of surprises.
"You know, we thought that we'd gone so far over the top that nobody would be able to miss the blue irony-light. I mean, sudokos aren't going to disappear by cutting out a thousand puzzles and mailing them back, but for some people this point has flown right past them."
There have been earnest and impassioned responses sent to the young activists by people explaining that there is really nothing evil about sudokus.
"A lot of sudokist types got properly pissed off and were worried that the puzzles were going to be taken from them. I'd never have guessed that people have such a personal attachment to sudoku", shrugs Korkala.
In September, the group of students will be heading to New York on a study trip. The money from the T-shirt sales has been a modest help in covering some of the costs of the trip.
And does Eino Korkala recommend similar projects to this for all media students as a way of gathering experience?
"Huh? No way! We have the upper hand right now", Korkala grins broadly.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.8.2006
The return of the consignment of sudoku puzzles to Japan can be followed this week from the movement's website, shown below. The site has a brief section in English. The T-shirts, which come for both sexes, have a slogan - "Youth Against Sudoku" or Make Love, not Sudoku" - and also a unique serial number, indicating that the wearer has, for instance, shirt No.42. At the time of writing, nearly 240 of the basic red T-shirt had been sold, with girls slightly outnumbering the boys among the customers. The gender balance for the "Make Love, Not Sudoku" shirts seems to be almost 50/50. The shirt campaign has officially closed, but apparently a few T-shirts are still available to any ardent anti-sudokistas out there.
When you see him sitting there in an Oulu café, 21-year-old Eino Korkala looks pretty much like your normal student.
But he is a Man on a Mission.
Korkala is one of the founding members of Youth Against Sudoku.
The movement's manifesto begins as follows:
In the year 1979, a new evil received its impetus. The world was ready. An Austrian architect designed a chart which was to be filled with numbers from one to nine. The Japanese became enchanted with the game in the mid-1980s. In the land of the rising sun the disease prospered, and within its nutritious soil it built up the strength to conquer the world. In November 2004, the time was ripe for the infestation of Europe. A British newspaper, "The Times", began to publish sudoku charts on a daily basis, and soon other newspapers followed its lead. In Finland the first newspaper to cave in was "Helsingin Sanomat", in September 2005.
Sudoku. Will this mania ever stop?
According to the manifesto, the movement's task is to root out the evil, for the swarms of sudoku puzzles "turn our world black and white, unimaginatively logical, and statically squared".
Youth Against Sudoku came into being this spring at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences (formerly Oulu Polytechnic), when a group of communications and media studies undergraduates used to gather around a cafeteria table.
"All the papers were full of sudoku puzzles. We started talking about what was happening around us. The most outrageous one was when some car dealer advertised that people buying a new such-and-such model would get a free book of sudoku puzzles with it", reports Korkala.
One of the group posted up the immortal declaration "Youth Against Sudoku" on a flip-board in the room. The next day, when a comment in support of the puzzles had appeared beneath the words, the fifteen dissidents decided it was time to act.
Web-pages and a plan of action emerged in short order.
"Our objective was to collect a thousand sudoku puzzles in the space of six months, and to deport them back to Japan where they came from. We now already have 2,227 sudokos awaiting shipment", reveals Korkala.
The sudokus could be sent in by post or placed in one of six bins around Oulu.
The movement is not open to members as such, but supporters can show their colours by buying T-shirts, which have been on sale through the summer.
Many encouraging messages have also come in from like-minded souls.
Korkala, who is studying visual communications, has designed the visual aspects of the campaign and built the movement's website.
"From the bags under my eyes I have occasionally noticed that there has been quite a lot to be done alongside my normal work", admits Korkala, who is currently on a traineeship in an advertising agency.
The web pages have been updated on a regular basis, and supporters of the cause will be able to follow online the despatch of the offending puzzles back to the Japanese Minstry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.
Korkala charges that phenomena like sudoku, which start bursting out everywhere, should be questioned.
"Many journalists have told us that if the sudoku puzzle has for some reason not appeared in the paper, the phone has been ringing all day with complaints and queries. Some people simply cannot cope without their daily sudoku fix."
Hmm. An interesting project for media studies undergraduates. This wouldn't by any chance be a way of bench-testing publicity?
"Um. Yep. It's a fair cop", confesses Korkala. "In six months we have learnt more than in two years at school: how to bring a story to the public, how much one is able to influence the message, and at what point it gets out of control."
Stories about YAS have appeared in 13 papers over the past six months. There have been plenty of surprises.
"You know, we thought that we'd gone so far over the top that nobody would be able to miss the blue irony-light. I mean, sudokos aren't going to disappear by cutting out a thousand puzzles and mailing them back, but for some people this point has flown right past them."
There have been earnest and impassioned responses sent to the young activists by people explaining that there is really nothing evil about sudokus.
"A lot of sudokist types got properly pissed off and were worried that the puzzles were going to be taken from them. I'd never have guessed that people have such a personal attachment to sudoku", shrugs Korkala.
In September, the group of students will be heading to New York on a study trip. The money from the T-shirt sales has been a modest help in covering some of the costs of the trip.
And does Eino Korkala recommend similar projects to this for all media students as a way of gathering experience?
"Huh? No way! We have the upper hand right now", Korkala grins broadly.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.8.2006
The return of the consignment of sudoku puzzles to Japan can be followed this week from the movement's website, shown below. The site has a brief section in English. The T-shirts, which come for both sexes, have a slogan - "Youth Against Sudoku" or Make Love, not Sudoku" - and also a unique serial number, indicating that the wearer has, for instance, shirt No.42. At the time of writing, nearly 240 of the basic red T-shirt had been sold, with girls slightly outnumbering the boys among the customers. The gender balance for the "Make Love, Not Sudoku" shirts seems to be almost 50/50. The shirt campaign has officially closed, but apparently a few T-shirts are still available to any ardent anti-sudokistas out there.
LEENA SANDSTRÖM / Helsingin Sanomat
leena.sandström@sanoma.fi