Soroban

The soroban (算盤, そろばん, counting tray) is an abacus developed in Japan. It is derived from the ancient Chinese suanpan, imported to Japan in the 14th century. Like the suanpan, the soroban is still used today, despite the proliferation of practical and affordable pocket electronic calculators. The soroban (算盤, そろばん, counting tray) is an abacus developed in Japan. It is derived from the ancient Chinese suanpan, imported to Japan in the 14th century. Like the suanpan, the soroban is still used today, despite the proliferation of practical and affordable pocket electronic calculators. The soroban is composed of an odd number of columns or rods, each having beads: one separate bead having a value of five, called go-dama (五玉, ごだま, 'five-bead') and four beads each having a value of one, called ichi-dama (一玉, いちだま, 'one-bead'). Each set of beads of each rod is divided by a bar known as a reckoning bar. The number and size of beads in each rod make a standard-sized 13-rod soroban much less bulky than a standard-sized suanpan of similar expressive power.