Math

Soroban Abacus

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A Japanese-style soroban abacus, with beads arranged for rapid mental calculation.

Additional Information

Each rod has one bead worth five above a bar and four beads worth one below it, letting a skilled user represent any digit 0–9 with a single hand motion. Soroban training is well known for building the ability to do arithmetic mentally, by picturing the beads without the frame in front of you.