The soroban is the Japanese abacus that has been used for centuries to calculate quickly and accurately. It evolved from the Chinese suanpan and was the main calculation tool in Japan before electronic calculators. It is still taught today to develop mental math in children.
Parts of the soroban
- Frame: a wooden structure holding the vertical rods.
- Reckoning bar: separates the heaven bead from the earth beads.
- Heaven bead: one bead above the bar, worth 5.
- Earth beads: four beads below the bar, each worth 1.
Why do people learn the soroban today?
Despite calculators, many people learn the soroban because it builds focus, visual memory and mental calculation speed. After practice, a learner can picture the abacus mentally and calculate without a tool — a skill known as “anzan”.
How to start?
Start by understanding how numbers are represented, then move on to addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. You can practice right away with the basics lesson and the interactive abacus on our platform.