In Japan, the abacus is still popular

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Schools across the country still teach how to calculate dizzying sums by sliding tiny beads along rods in wooden frames, and at least 43,000 students take advanced lessons. Many practitioners sit for exams and the elite take part in national competitions, like the All-Japan Abacus Championship in Kyoto this month, pictured above.

“Unlike the computer or calculator, you have to watch the movement of the beads with your eyes, and then think with your brain and make a move with your fingers,” one expert said. “It’s a very foundational learning process.”