Learning the abacus helps improve memory and the ability to think logically because the prefrontal area of the brain is used when mental arithmetic is performed.

Kiso Kubota, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University, cognitive neuroscientist and author of a book on "soroban" (abacus). The soroban, once a staple of childhood education along with reading and writing, is making a comeback with more children attending soroban schools and more people taking abacus certification tests. (Yomiuri Shimbun)

© Japan Today