The Zen of Calculation

The soroban, or Japanese abacus, has been used in Japan for centuries and remains a living tool for calculation, concentration, and memory. In recent years, its popularity has grown again as people seek more tactile alternatives to digital methods. In this experience, you visit a premier soroban academy near Tokyo that has a reputation for training students who compete at a high level in national soroban competitions. At the academy, you join the class itself, learning the techniques of this mental conditioning tool alongside young students and discovering how this training sharpens concentration, memory, and speed. As part of the visit, you assemble your own soroban before class and use it during the lesson, so the experience can continue later as a daily practice. Along the way, you have the chance to observe how teaching and encouragement unfold inside a Japanese classroom, while speaking naturally with both the teacher and students and exchanging cultural points of view.

Few experiences allow outsiders this level of access to such a unique part of everyday Japanese life. Many visitors encounter soroban through short workshops or demonstrations. What is remarkable here is that you enter a real academy and take part in class as a regular student. That changes the tone of the experience: you are not watching from the outside. You are stepping into a living educational culture in an authentic suburban setting near Tokyo, interacting with the teacher and other students. Soroban also carries a different weight in Japan than it likely does elsewhere. It is still valued for the benefits it builds in children and adults: concentration, patience, endurance, confidence in calculation, supporting cognitive sharpness, and managing daily stress. Learning from a veteran instructor who has trained champion-level students over a long teaching career also means encountering soroban as a discipline shaped by repetition, speed, and mental focus.

Hiro Miyaoka is a Saitama native with deep knowledge of the local culture. After a 38-year career as a high school social studies teacher, he transitioned into tour guiding, drawing on his passion and expertise in history, culture, and education to serve his guests. Hiro’s extensive knowledge of local traditions and his skill in storytelling make him a strong ambassador for sharing the charms of Saitama’s traditional industries with both domestic and international guests. The lesson and class are led by Risa Sato, a veteran instructor at the academy who has taught and coached scores of soroban students, including high-level competitors in national competitions.

Comfortable casual clothing is recommended.