This abacus has a black frame with wooden rods and white counting beads.
An abacus, or counting frame (soroban in Japanese), is a tool originating in Asia that is used for arithmetic. It was imported to Japan from China around 1600. Merchants, traders, and clerks in some parts of Asia and Africa continue to use the abacus for calculations, and it is still taught in many Japanese primary schools in order to foster faster mental calculations.
