New item Unshu Sorobans

【About Japan’s Traditional crafts】～Unshu Soroban～

What is the Soroban?

The Soroban is a Japanese old style manual mathematical calculator.
It’ looks similar an abacus.

What is the Unshu?  Where it is?

“Unshu” is the current eastern part of Shimane Prefecture in Japan.

History

Approximately 180 years ago, Kigoro Murakami, was a carpenter in Okuizumo-cho, Shimane prefecture,

used a carpenter’s tool to create a soroban made of wood from the Okuizumo region, using the example of a soroban made by a Hiroshima Prefecture artisan.

The history and many stories of Unshu soroban began there.

Manufacturing Method

The Unshu soroban

Unshu soroban has more than 180 processes and roughly made in the following order.

Drying of materials→Bead making→Axis making→Frame making→Assembly→Finishing

All the finest sorobans are made by hand.

Most popular products are processed by machine, but most of the assembly and finishing work is manual.

１、Beads making

The finest products are hand-sharpened, and the general products are machine-cut. (Image is hand-sharpened)

The most important thing in the soroban is the beads。

A good soroban is good movement and high sound from the beads.

Especially the finish of beads holes and core bamboo are carefully finished, so the longer you use them, the better they will be.

２、Axis making

The image is called “shinkoki”.

Bamboo is shaved to match the size of the  beads hole.

Only the highest grade products are processed by hand, and general products are processed by machine.

３、Frame making

Finish the shape of the frame.

The craftsman finishes the roughness of the comma several millimeters flat with the sense of the hand.

４、Finishing

A final check is made visually by a mature craftsman.

We don’t compromise on many people to use our great Unshu sorobans!

Unshu soroban, which has both practicality and gracefully, is designated as a Japanese traditional craft.

Unshu Soroban Traditional craftsman 2nd generation Unbun

The abacus has been used by many people in Japan now and in the past.

In recent years, it has also become a popular educational tool.

It is also very popular as a lesson for fathers and mothers to recommend to their children.

The reason is not only the ability to calculate・・・

・Get concentrated

・ The right brain grows

・ No resistance to numbers

・ possess patience

・ Habit to head to desk

The soroban has always been a popular practice in Japan.

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https://www.select-japan.net/en/product_subcategory/soroban-3/