The Abacus and the Numeral Frame - The Japanese Abacus Most
recent Japanese abaci (soroban) have one counter above and four
below. Some older Japanese instruments have five counters in the
lower section. The right-most column represents units, the next
tens, the next hundreds, etc. For numbers with digits to the
right of the decimal point, the first column is for the smallest
decimal term. In multiplication, some columns are used for the
number being multiplied and some for the product. In part for
this reason, there are more columns on most abaci than are
usually used in addition. In any calculation, the counters that
represent numbers are those moved against the crossbar. "The
Abacus and the Numeral Frame - The Japanese Abacus" showing 1
items. - This wooden instrument has an open frame and is stored
in an open wooden box. The frame (which lifts out of the box)
has a cross bar and holds 21 parallel bamboo rods. Each rod
holds one bead above the cross bar and five below. The beads
have a similar shape to tho