Tochio's Computation on the Soroban

About 40 years have elapsed since Japan adopted the foreign method of arithmetic, and it may be safely said that at the present time there is scarcely any man not knowing that system. However, in all the business and Government institutions, as well as in private homes, while they are fast adopting foreign ways in matters material or otherwise, there is yet little or no sign of their dispensing with the old method of computation—the use of the Soroban, a calculating device which has been employed in the East for thousands of years—and for that purpose, paper and pencil are seldom resorted to. Is it then simply an enertia? Certainly not; the Soroban, though primitive in appearance, really has its own merits. After a little practice, any calculation on a Soroban can be performed in far less time and with much less taxation on the mental faculty, the work being more mechanical, in comparison with the Occidental system. These advantages are noticeable in addition and subtraction, and more especially in multiplication and division where great curtailment of work is seen.

In the author's business experience of the past 20 years, the Soroban has been, and still shall be, an important companion; and his aim, in presenting this little volume to the public, is to make Westerners familiar with the use of the little device, so simple in construction, so easy to operate, so trifling in cost, and yet rendering a good service, rather than to deal on its arithmetical principles.

Much difficulty was experienced to render the division tables into concise English; and for that reason, as also for the sake of euphony, the current Japanese way of reading these tables was not necessarily adhered to.