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Featured Article: “The Right Answer? 8,186,699,633,530,061 (An Abacus Makes It Look Almost Easy)”

The abacus, a centuries-old calculating tool, has been abandoned by most countries, but it is still popular in Japan where national abacus tournaments attract elite competitors. In this lesson, students will learn about the world of competitive abacus calculating and explore the question: Why is it important to calculate numbers reaching the trillions when a computer or a calculator might be handy?

Warm Up

Are you good at math? Do you find it fun? Have you ever competed in math-related games or contests?

In this article, you will read about contestants as young as 8 and as old as 69 competing in the All-Japan Abacus Championship in Kyoto, Japan last month.

Do you think you have what it takes to compete?

Quickly, what is: 498853 × 125349 =?

What number did you get? How did you arrive at the answer? How long did it take?

Would you believe that Abacus Championship winning contestants regularly add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers of up to 16-digits in just a few seconds — using an abacus?