“The soroban (算盤, そろばん, counting tray) is an abacus developed in Japan. It is derived from the Chinese suanpan, imported to Japan around 1600. Like the suanpan, the soroban is still used today, despite the proliferation of practical and affordable pocket electronic calculators.
“Dual soroban-calculators were produced from 1979 and in recent use in Japan”
- Wikipedia
Sources: Technabob / Totton Heffelfinger / Open Hammerhead
