Japanese Soroban Abacus Meiji Period-1868-1912

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Description

The image shows a soroban, which is a traditional Japanese abacus. This abacus is Meiji Era when one bead in … Read more The image shows a soroban, which is a traditional Japanese abacus. This abacus is Meiji Era when one bead in the upper deck and five beads in the lower deck on each rod was done. Vintage Japanese sorobans like this one are often collected as historical artifacts or decorative pieces, with some dating back to 1880. I have seen the antique abacuses in gallery walls going lengthwise and there are 2 holes to attach a hanger to. It would look great with other Japanese antiques.

Features of the Soroban
Structure: It consists of a frame with vertical rods and a horizontal divider bar.
Bead Values: Each bead in the upper deck (the "heavenly" beads) represents a value of five, while each bead in the lower deck (the "earthly" beads) represents a value of one.
Columns: The rods act as place value columns (e.g., ones, tens, hundreds). Between the heaven and earth beads there is bone stringing with kanji.
Usage: It is still used today as an educational tool to teach mental arithmetic, number sense, and basic math operations like addition and subtraction. See less