Soroban, or Japanese Abacus

Description:

This instrument sits in a wooden box painted black around the edge. It has a wooden cross piece painted white. Twenty-one parallel bamboo rods rods pass through the cross piece. Each has one bead above the cross piece and five below.

The beads are similar in shape to those on other Japanese abaci. Every column but the middle one is labeled on the cross piece with a Japanese character. The ten beads to the left of the center may represent units of volume, those to the right are units of currency.

A stamp attached to the box below the beads that shows a Japanese diety known as Daikoku sama operating an abacus. Characters printed on the stamp refer to a trademark and to Osaka. A sticker attached to the back has characters on it that may represent a price in a vendor's code. The object is marked on the back in pen “4504.” It is recorded as found in museum storage in 1959.

Date Made: before 1959

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: Japan

Subject: AsianMathematics

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Mathematics, Abacus, Science & Mathematics

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: MA.316866Catalog Number: 316866Accession Number: 228691

Object Name: abacus

Physical Description: wood (overall material)bamboo (overall material)Measurements: overall: 1.8 cm x 35.6 cm x 8 cm; 23/32 in x 14 1/32 in x 3 5/32 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-17a3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_690529

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