The abacus, called soroban in Japanese, is a counting frame used for thousands of years and today it is the main tool of mental arithmetic. Each column stands for a place value (ones, tens, hundreds), and by sliding the beads you can represent any number.
Each column has one upper bead (worth 5) and four lower beads (worth 1 each). A child first moves the beads by hand, then gradually learns to picture those movements in the mind — and that stage is exactly what we call mental arithmetic.
On the soroban, represent the number 6: push the upper bead (worth 5) down and raise one lower bead (1) — 5 + 1 = 6. By sliding the beads in each column this way, you can show any number.
Reading from right to left, each soroban column stands for ones, tens and hundreds. Each of the four lower beads is worth 1 and the single upper bead is worth 5: to show 38 you raise three lower beads in the tens column, then the upper bead plus three lower beads in the ones column (5+3=8). Addition is done place by place: for 38+21 you first add 2 beads to the tens, then 1 bead to the ones — 59.
A child begins on a physical board and, after a few months, moves on to calculating on an imagined soroban (the anzan stage): numbers start to appear as a picture, and speed grows dramatically. The finger movements also build fine motor control and two-hand coordination.
Regular practice on the abacus increases calculation speed and accuracy, strengthens working memory and attention, and activates both hemispheres of the brain together. These skills help in mathematics and in learning in general.
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