Japanese abacus, derived from the chinese suan-pan during the 14th century. This model has a reset lever.
The soroban has only 1 upper bead with value 5, which is enough for all calculations. For the rest it is identical to the chinese suan-pan. Logic and calculation are left brain functions and visualizing is a right brain function. Thus, by learning to use soroban children are able to stimulate their entire brain while perfecting their mind math skills.
This more recent model has a mechanical reset lever which pushes the beads back from their central position.
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