Beadbay: the soroban
Online abacus: a soroban you can play in your browser
This is a working soroban, the Japanese abacus. Push a bead to the beam to count it, pull it away to take it off, and run a finger along the beam to clear every rod. The number on the beads is shown above them.
Play the soroban
Tap or drag the beads. Several fingers work at once. Click the frame and type digits to set a rod from the keyboard.
How to read it
Every rod is one place: ones on the right, then tens, hundreds and so on to the left. On each rod the bead above the beam is worth five and each of the four beads below is worth one. A bead only counts when it touches the beam.
So a rod with the top bead down and two lower beads up shows 7. A rod with nothing touching the beam shows 0.
What you can do here
Set any number, add and take away, and watch the number above the beads follow you. The dots on the beam mark every third rod, which helps you keep thousands and millions in line.
- Tap a bead to send it across.
- Drag a bead and the ones in front of it go with it.
- Flick a bead and it carries on by itself.
- Swipe along the beam to clear, as on a real soroban.
More in Beadbay
The full app is free to open. It has more rods (up to 27 on a wide screen), big beads for small fingers, a left-handed layout, lessons that show each move as ghost beads, practice by level, a daily ten, Flash sums and print sheets.
Questions
Is this a real abacus?
It works the way a modern Japanese soroban does: one bead worth five above the beam and four beads worth one below it on every rod.
Can I use it on a phone or tablet?
Yes. It is made for touch: several fingers can move beads at once, and nothing on the page scrolls or zooms while you are on the frame.
Does it cost anything?
No. The soroban, the first lessons, their practice and the daily ten are free in Beadbay. Nothing is sent anywhere and there are no adverts.