History of the Japanese Soroban
In the 15th century the Chinese abacus, known as the Suanpan, was introduced to Japan. During the late 19th century the Suanpan was modified and improved on by Japanese mathematicians who changed it into a more efficient calculating tool which was smaller in size and easier to use. This became known as the Japanese Soroban and is the abacus still used today.
The Soroban became a popular tool in the mid 20th century. It was a simple and convenient tool allowing people to carry out calculations mentally and by hand, achieving speedy results rivalling modern calculators.
In 1938 the Soroban technique was introduced into the Japanese school curriculum. Due to its many benefits, the Soroban technique is still taught today in modern day Japan.
The Japanese Soroban Today
Due to the popularity of the Japanese soroban maths technique and the immense advantages it gives children in their mathematics and other areas of learning the technique is being taught in numerous countries across the world such as; Japan, China, India, Russia, USA, Australia, UK, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Turkey and of course South Africa.
Children who become skilled in the use of the Soroban become astoundingly skilled at mental maths calculations known as “anzan” in Japanese.
The Abacus and Brain Development
There are two hemispheres to our brain i.e. the left side and the right side. In general people tend to predominantly use more of one side of their brain than the other. As most people are right handed, they tend to use the left side of their brain as the right side of the body leads to more stimulation of the left brain cells. The right and left side of the brain is each a cognisant system in its own right and responsible for different functions of the mind.
The left side of the brain has the ability to do the following:
- Allows us to analyse processes and think logically
- Processes facts
- Regulates information that requires rules and rationality
- Analyse information concerning languages and sound
The right side of the brain focuses on more creative aspects and needs to be well stimulated. It has the ability to do the following:
- Capture images
- Deals with intuition and emotions
- Has the ability to capture information with its photographic memory
- Allows creativity, visualisation and colours
- Deals with dimensions
Although each person predominantly uses one side of their brain, all brain processes still take place in the whole brain. The brain is very flexible and can be stimulated by various means. Whole brain integration means that by using both sides of your brain you can improve the productivity of your brain. Of these various means, the one well known activity stimulating both sides of the brain by means of brain exercise, is the abacus.
Children who are trained in using the abacus, actively use their right brain. They use their hands to move the abacus beads in calculations, and in this way, stimulate the cells in both the right and left sides of the brain. The result is a balanced whole brain development, leading to greater mental capacity.
Scientific analyses indicate abacus training can improve a child’s ability to:
- process information
- visualize
- memorize
- concentrate
- observe
- problem solve
Research:
