Lesson 1 of 8

Meet the soroban

The soroban is a counting tool from Japan. We move beads to show numbers.

It has bars (rods) going up and down, and a beam going across the middle. Above the beam is one heavenly bead on each bar. Below the beam are four earthly beads on each bar.

A soroban with the heavenly section, the earthly section and the divider bar labelled — Heavenly beads sit above the beam, earthly beads below it.

Find the parts

Hi, I'm Oli! Let's find the parts of the soroban. Tap a name, then tap its picture.