The four mathematical operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division can all be performed using the abacus. By moving the beads according to the values being added or subtracted and using complimentary numbers to account for too many or too few beads, one can calculate large arithmetic problems. Below is a link to an instructional video that explains how to do addition on the Japanese Soroban.
The Abacus Today
- Worldwide, the abacus is an assistive technology that is used by blind and visually impaired students as an alternative to paper and pencil arithmetic and hand held calculators.
- The Soroban is still used in Japan. It is preferred by some merchants over the hand held calculator. Most elementary schools have abacus as their introduction to numbers and arithmetic.
- The video below has some interesting facts and several clips of how abacus training is beneficial.