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🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (1)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (2)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (3)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (4)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (5)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (6)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (7)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (8)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (1)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (2)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (3)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (4)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (5)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (6)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (7)
🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow product image (8)

🎎 Antique Japanese Soroban Abacus (Small Merchant’s Model) – Early Showa or Earlier – Japan Antique Roadshow

$80.89 CAD

🎎 This is a beautifully aged Japanese soroban (算盤), or abacus, likely from the early Showa period or earlier. Compact in size and rich in character, this style was probably used by merchants on the move—small enough to tuck into a kimono sleeve, yet sturdy and precise for daily accounting. It remains in excellent condition and is still fully functional, a quiet artifact of Japan’s handmade economy.

📏 Approximate dimensions
• Size: 17 cm (L) × 6.4 cm (W) × 1.75 cm (D)
• Weight: 70 grams
• Materials: Hardwood frame, hand-turned wooden beads, metal center rail with painted kanji
• Period: Early Showa (c. 1920s–1930s) or possibly Taisho era
• Condition: Very good with signs of use, patina consistent with age, no structural damage

Each bead has been worn smooth by a lifetime of calculation—its edges softened by thousands of quick flicks of a merchant’s finger. The central rail bears faint traces of hand-painted kanji, a detail that speaks to the object’s utility and embedded memory.

About the soroban:
The soroban evolved from the Chinese suanpan and became Japan’s primary calculating tool from the Edo period through the 20th century. By the Meiji and Showa eras, it had become a cornerstone of Japanese education and commerce. Students once trained extensively on soroban drills, and even today, competitions exist to test calculation speed and accuracy. This particular abacus, with its modest size, likely served a single traveling shopkeeper—its wear telling the quiet story of daily transactions in a town market or street stall.

Curated in Shizuoka City by Kurt Bell, this piece offers a quiet, tangible connection to Japan’s economic history and the human rhythm of mindful arithmetic.

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Quality Guarantee & Returns

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  • Quality is guaranteed. If there is a print error or visible quality issue, we'll replace or refund it.
  • Because the products are made to order, we do not accept general returns or sizing-related returns.