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Japanese Firm Tomoe Soroban Hails the Brain-Training Power of the Abacus

  • Second-generation president of Tomoe Soroban, Fujimoto Tomoe, left her job as an English teacher to head the company.

    Second-generation president of Tomoe Soroban, Fujimoto Tomoe, left her job as an English teacher to head the company.

  • The 100-bead abacus provides a simple and fun way to learn how to count.

    The 100-bead abacus provides a simple and fun way to learn how to count.

  • The firm offers its booklet explaining how to use an abacus in English and five other languages, including Esperanto.

    The firm offers its booklet explaining how to use an abacus in English and five other languages, including Esperanto.

  • Students at New York charter school Harlem Village Academies using the 100-bead abacus in class in 2014. (Courtesy Tomoe Soroban)

    Students at New York charter school Harlem Village Academies using the 100-bead abacus in class in 2014. (Courtesy Tomoe Soroban)

  • Students studying Japanese at a high school in Denmark practice the abacus during a workshop in 2013. (Courtesy Tomoe Soroban)

    Students studying Japanese at a high school in Denmark practice the abacus during a workshop in 2013. (Courtesy Tomoe Soroban)

  • Tomoe Soroban makes its abacuses at its factory in Ono in Hyōgo Prefecture with beads crafted from an especially hard variety of birch and hand-assembles into rows on bamboo dowels.

    Tomoe Soroban makes its abacuses at its factory in Ono in Hyōgo Prefecture with beads crafted from an especially hard variety of birch and hand-assembles into rows on bamboo dowels.

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