Antique Japan Abacus - Soroban Wooden Calculating To (02/12/2008)...

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Antique Japan Abacus - Soroban Wooden Calculating Tool

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Antique Japan Abacus - Soroban Wooden Calculating Tool

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Sold Date: 02/12/2008
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Ethnic, Folk & Native American Art

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Description

Old wooden Japanese abacus or soroban . This abacus was designed especially for merchants as nearly every row of beads is identified (in beautiful carved kanji) with digit markers, while normal Japanese abacus have digit markers only every 3 or 4 rows. The bottom of the abacus is made of oak while the upper part and the beads are made of boxwood. This particular soroban was probably manufactured between 1850 and 1930. This date range can be inferred due to the number of beads it contains. Soroban manufactured in Japan before 1850 included a 2/5 bead combination (2 beads on the upper deck and 5 beads on the lower deck). The Japanese formally changed to a 1/5 style in 1850 and then finally a 1/4 style in 1930 when all of the Japanese school text books were revised. This soroban has the 1/5 bead style.

Due to it's apparent age, this soroban was likely made exclusively with traditional Japanese hand tools instead of modern power tools. Tools such as the nokogiri (Japanese pull saw) and kana (block plane) may have been used to carefully cut and shape each wooden part and to create the delicate and expert joinery which have held the abacus together all these years. The abacus is in good condition though it does have marks and scratches on the body and some dust on the bottom beneath the beads. Many modern Japanese still learn to use a soroban in school and some even prefer these ancient tools over modern electronic calculators. My Japanese mother-in-law (last photo below) for instance uses her soroban when performing daily accounting work for the family business as well as in the preparation of her annual tax return! However, when I showed her an old soroban like the one offered she was unable to use it as her training had never included such an old fashioned bead count. The soroban offered is ready (with a little cleaning) to once again assist with mathematical calculations (that is if anyone can figure out how to use it), or perhaps to serve as a decorative accent in the home or office of someone who appreciates high quality, hand made Japanese woodcraft.

Size:
Length: 13.1 inches (33.5 centimeters)
Width: 4.3 inches (11.0 centimeters)
Weight: 1.5 pounds (704 grams)

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What exactly is an abacus?

How did people keep track of numbers before pen and paper were widely available? How does addition and subtraction work if you don't have a handy written form for your numbers? Say you can't read or write, but you can count - how do you add, subtract, multiply, or divide large numbers? The answer to all these questions is . . . the abacus!

What is an abacus? An abacus is a device used for addition and subtraction, and the related operations of multiplication and division. It does not require the use of pen and paper, and it's good for any base number system. T are two basic forms for the abacus: a specially marked flat surface used with counters (counting table), or a frame with beads strung on wires (bead frame).

The bead frame form is what most people think of when they hear the word, "abacus". T are 3 main forms of abacus in use today; the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Russian. All are composed of a rectangular frame with beads on vertical wires or bamboo dowel. The number of wires and beads vary, and t may or may not be a horizontal divider in the frame.

It cannot be proven, but the Chinese are often credited with the invention of the abacus. The abacus was a great invention in ancient China and has been called by some Western writers "the earliest calculating machine in t...