Standard Soroban (Abacus) / 23 Digits [43300]

This soroban is amazingly refined for something so simple. It is a fine example of the Japanese facility for mating form and function happily. It really feels great in the hand. Making the top rail with two angled faces instead of one flat one makes it so easy to tilt it forward to reset all of the counters to the bottom. (Some supply sorobans with a reset button - a needless complication. All that is necessary after tilting forward is to run a finger along the bar separating the ones and the fives to push the fives up against the top rail. The angular shape of the counters makes this work perfectly.) The frame is ebony with beech counters that are quite uniform and perfectly fitted to the rods - it's really a nice piece of workmanship (the person making it seems to have signed the inside of the frame). I learned to use a Chinese abacus about forty years ago and have used it frequently (no batteries, the reading stays on it until you clear it - great for people who are constantly interrupted). Never mastered division - the Chinese method is complicated, lots of 'readings' to memorize. and if you don't use it every day you forget. It also sometimes requires the extra five and extra one counters of the Chinese abacus. The Japanese method taught in books like Takashi Kojima's 'Japanese Abacus' is intuitive and easy to remember - wish I had discovered it earlier. The five beads per rod of the Sorobn make its readings unambiguous: the seven beads of the Chinese abacus make for multiple representations of the same number. I heartily recommend the Japanese soroban and this one by Tomoe in particular.

The media could not be loaded. Getting one for my child to learn mind math. This soroban is exactly like the one I used in my own childhood. All beads are supposed to slide up and down smoothly in order to work well with fast finger movements. If beads don’t slide smoothly when you shake the whole soroban will be considered as low quality build. And this one is a high quality build like it should.

Just received my Japanese Soroban. Good quality, however the beads don't seem like wood to me but more like plastic. But it really doesn't bother me. As far as I am concerned, there is not enough space between the beads and the bar. A bit hard to use for beginners like me, even though I already know how to add and subtract. I think I will have to buy another one with bigger beads of different colors to practice. Overall, I am happy with it and I will keep it but in my opinion it's not for beginners.

I wanted to use this abacus to teach my child soroban and anzan, but the beads move too much and do not stay in place. I am going to have to buy a new one; I bought it a while ago, otherwise I would just return it. It's frustrating because, why else do you use an abacus? Why wouldn't it keep its shape properly? And it has a Japanese tag so it's made in Japan at least. Maybe it was just too cheap.

I'm so glad I spent the money to get this soroban. It's the genuine article, complete with the Japanese price tag still attached. The quality is immediately noticeable: silky smoothe movement, light as a feather. Wow!

I usually delay several weeks before writing a review to be certain of my product evaluation. This is different. I received the soroban an hour ago and marvel at the craftsmanship $35 can buy. 50 years ago I learned to calculate on my father's soroban, which was all-wood/bamboo construction and quite beautiful. This "modern" soroban is more meticulously crafted, being a delight to the eyes and hands. Thank you, Tomoe, for preserving tradition!

A lovely table game that feels and looks awesome. Easy game to play but lots of scope to grow into a top class player.

Beautifully made however not functional in my opinion. The beads are super slippery so they slide down with minimal touch and there isn’t much room for the beads to move. Since the beads are so light and small it would be easy to make mistakes. Would not recommend unless you have small fingers and have amazing hand control. Maybe good as a decorative item.