Japan's ancient secret to better cognitive memory - BBC REEL 

15 numbers in 1.5 sec..... 8377! My brain: wth just happened

Timing the abacus is strict, but we need this in the west.

Moved to Japan when I was in 3rd grade and remember having to learn this, though was never as good as the kids in this video lol. Had no idea what I was doing at first but remember how fun it was once I got the hang of it. Would be cool to see this integrated in more classrooms as a side activity for math/history lessons.

this is incredible, thank you. i want to learn this, too.

I can't even type that on my calculator that fast

I love Japan

Watching for the first time..have no idea how it works!!

Wow. Must be nice to have a nation of leaders devoted whole heartedly to the early childhood education.

4:30 “The hands are the visual part of the brain” is an absolute truth as far as I'm concerned. I used to trace the letters of words into my palm during spelling bees. That action greatly increased my ability to construct large words in my brain. I had a childhood disability that made my hands unable to hold a pencil yet I beat most that used repetition to compete

" The hands is the visible part of our brain ". Love that quote! ❤

I couldn't even see the numbers correctly and these children calculated the whole numbers. It's marvellous. We need this type of training for our brain.

Wow. Here in America, people can't even figure out what gender they are, meanwhile, Japan is training their kids to be super genius'.

I think the important lesson to take from this video is that it's never too late to learn fundamentals of Mathematics and Science. It's better to exercise our will to learn solving complex problems starting today than to feel bad about what we couldn't learn as a child. Keep learning!

Doh, I wish I had learned this as a young lad. Like any language it probably is easier to learn as a child. The finger movements and how they add is somewhat akin to reading music but different. I'm thoroughly impressed and definitely jealous of these type of skills.

Wow this is the first time I've learned the true potential of an abacus. Our math teacher just took us to the math lab and showed the colorful beaded abacus and said it was invented by someone and that was it. I wish i had learned it as a kid. Japan truly never fails to amaze me🇯🇵

Learned this as a kid. While calculation is what the abacus is about, but the core teaching is about discipline. It's about the mindset and attitude to perform such calculation. Impressed with the kids who take the calculation to the next level!

I learned abacus in school in my 3rd and 4th grade.It's actually not that difficult as it seems.But i could only calculate fast with an abacus, as i had difficulty visualizing it in my head(I could only do around 6 significant digits in my head).It's an art that you will never forget once it goes into your muscle memory like solving a rubics cube.

I am new to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, but I am very interested and curious to start investing in it, although I do feel this is kind of late now. Can anyone tell me what I need to do?

I have deep respect for the many positive aspects of the Japanese culture.

I am so grateful that my mum sent me to an abacus learning centre and now that i am able to visualise an abacus and count faster and more easily than most ppl who didn't learn it. Back thn in the 90s and early y2k, it was a fad to learn this in Malaysia and you could see centres blooming every neighbourhood. I only regret that I gave up on it when I was moving up to the level of division

I enjoyed Japanese abacus from 10 to 13 years old. I know people can’t believe this, but abacus is really fun! I liked concentrating on calculating numbers without any distractions and felt “I achieved!” when my answers were correct. We can calculate even √route with it. I always imagine “abacus” in my mind and calculate everything without real one. This is normal for people who learned Japanese abacus. Please try it!!

What I found impressive is the lady’s ability (at 3:46) to read out a 12 digit number in a clear voice within 3 seconds without biting her tongue.

I learnt abacus from the age 10 to 13. I am 19 now and this video makes so much sense. I still use abacus in my "head" to do a lot of calculations and also, I think it has a huge role on the way my brain works. I find myself thinking deeply; I seek the truth. My actions seem radical. The best gift you could give to your kid would be to let them join the abacus classes(only if they want to) when they're super young!

In the West people can't even write anymore ... 🤣

My wife can do calculation using abacus mentally (without the abacus present). I'm jealous of that skill.

5:25 what the hell

Now, here's a country that actually cares about the minds of the next generation. These children are absolutely impressive. ❤

I really struggled with maths at school and I think I would have found this incredibly helpful 👍

This video shocked me! I didn't knew it's very normalized to learn abacus in Japan. I'm from Indonesia, I study at a middle to low class standard school, and from grade 1 to grade 6 we learn abacus, but not as difficult as in Japan of course. At that time I was confused what was the function to study abacus and why did I need to learn it because no other schools learn it except mine, even on grade 7 we still learn it. But after watching this video I feel so grateful & also this answers my friends' questions why I can count in my head so fast, now I realized it's because I learned abacus. Before watching this video I also don't know why I can count fast in my head, thanks abacus, oh and my school too 🤣

I learnt abacus when I was kid. I had a lot of fun and because of that my math was always better than most of the student in primary school, that set my confidence and passion about math! Will def let my kids learn this in the future!

I enjoy when a video on RU-vid allows the speakers to speak in their native language with English subtitles.

in India too, there are local tuition classes for abacus and Vedic Math. My friend and cousins took abacus and they are very good with large numbers. my father would encourage me to learn all the tables till 40. he did it in his childhood and he is very good with calculations even without using calculator. Vedic maths ( math derived from ancient indian formulas and practice)is also taught in I would elite schools of my town.

I remember as a child in primary our school had introduced abacus as an extra curricular wherein an instructor from a certain SIP Academy used to teach us daily and we also had the option to enroll for those exams. I vividly remember my love for abacus and it's what made me good at mental math and loving the subject in general. I had done like 5 of those levels before dropping it altogether after 4th grade. Once you get good with the abacus they tell you to do moving uour fingers in the air without the abacus, we used to call it visualization technique ans it was really cool! I still have 2 of with me, one small and one big! It's been over 12 years now, I have graduated recently and I still remember my instructors name, good old days! Now that this random recommendation has reminded me of it I am gonna go and play with it soon! Schools should really take initiatives like these, I was really lucky 😇

I didnt even see the numbers in those almost 2 seconds. And that girl had the answer almost instantaneously. I cannot compete.

Watching those kids react like pavlov's dog to the next problem was ... kind of terrifying. As a physiscist who uses a lot of mathematics, I don't see the usefulness of taxing one's brain with long digit arithmetic. It seems similar to the disconnect between spelling bee success and understanding the meaning of words.

People of Japan seem to have very strong discipline just about in everything including education

Meanwhile, in America, a country I love, we spend the most on education yet students are becoming dumber and dumber. No students passed state math tests for years at Lebron james super school in Ohio. I use that as an example because funding and resources were no issue. Students still failed. The teachers unions are to blame. Teachers should be hired/fired, with pay based along the lines of how well your students do. If you're you're all star teacher you deserve to be recognized as such. If you suck then you're fired. Every job is like that. Why not teachers?

I am from Ireland. I bought myself a soroban and sudopan few years ago. I had fun using them. Now, I want to buy another abacus with 9 beads, 5 in one colour and 4 in another colour. I can use that abacus as either soroban or sudopan.

This video showed up randomly in my timeline. It introduced me to the soroban and now I'm hooked. I bought two sorobans and downloaded an exercise generator. I use it every day. Away from home I calculate with my virtual soroban on my phone. I'm not trying to reach a certain speed or even a degree. I do it just for fun and my everyday calculations. Thank you very much!

ME watching this and suffering from a brain fog due to sedentary lifestyle and bing watching youtube ! I tell how they can do it that fast..they are always competing to be the fastest and smartest...these cultures (Chinese and Japanese etc )will conquer the world one day ...

One day, I want my kids to learn this

For me, a person with dyscalculia, this looks like an ultimate superpower.

The Japanese are definitely at the top of humanity.

This is just incredible. I know we all learn differently and there’s no guarantee you would’ve helped me completely, but I still would’ve loved to have been taught how to use an abacus at school. Sometimes numbers come naturally to me but I believe if I had done this then perhaps I would’ve had a higher chance of going on to do full maths GCSEs. I’m 25 now in my last year of possibly higher education but I would still perhaps like to try this out, even if I am a bit late to the game. It’s crazy what the abacus seems to do to your brain, but it could really be something that will last a lifetime.

I am abacus teacher from India. It helps children to increase their speed ,concentration,accuracy,confidents etc..,

This is very eye-opening and motivational. Every person's brain is capable of so much more than we assume, all it needs is a bit of good training and discipline. I'm glad I watched this video.

My 6 years old daughter just started learning abacus, she is doing very good for a beginner and I'm learning along side with her. Its very interesting how we can train our brain to do amazing things. I think we don't take enough advantage of our brain.

I had the opportunity to teach abacus in Sierra Leone, West Africa some years ago. It was fun and exciting That was where I learned that the best time and learn is during childhood The children can easily grasp these calculations which can be a bottleneck to adult We need to invest in this form of education too.

Why is abacus not taught in all countries and schools ?

They are just on a different level to all others in the world. I’m not even that fast in a calculator.

5:31 WTF just happened there ??

Japanese culture has been preserved well enough, Most times it amazes me greatly how I moved from an average lifestyle to earning over $63k per month, Utter shock is the word. I have understood a lot in the past few years that there are lots of opportunities in the financial market. The only thing is to know where to invest.

I too learned abacus as a kid, although i did quit early on (i regret to this day), it has helped me my whole life... I can do calculations faster and better than my peers and the surrounding people... I wouldn't say it's extremely difficult but it's definitely requires some effort. Like usual it gets tougher as you move past the levels but you definitely get better too and it sure stays for a lifetime. I wouldn't be lying if i say i retain information much better than many and pretty quickly too. It's an art definitely worth learning.

They have abacus 🧮 learning in Ghana 🇬🇭 too, I learned it in my primary school stages. We even have National Abacus competitions,and this girl in my school succeeded at national level. She travelled to I think Malaysia 🇲🇾 for the UCMAS challenge.

Amazing! I learned to use the abacus in elementary school, but we didn’t get challenged like these Japanese students are. What an amazing way of learning. Love so many aspects of Japanese culture. :-)

I remember how popular soroban was back in elementary school, in my country. When we had math exam, if uve spent enough time with the soroban, u can imagine it was there on your desk and calculated in your mind.

My god I can't even remember my own phone number

Woah, i joined abacus academy when i was in elementary school.. seeing them need to calculate fast specially 'shadow abacus' that's how our teacher said, really help me until today 😄

The type of Abacus most commonly used today was invented in China around the 2nd century B.C. However, Abacus-like devices are first attested from ancient Mesopotamia around 2700 B.C. Well, it has a long history. people are sooo smart to develop it, I had the abacus classes in the primary school but totally forgot how to use it, but my mum still can, amazing tool. I hope the school are still teaching it.

At least 2000 years ago, a group of ancient Chinese brought abacus (including a large number of Chinese products and classical Chinese books) to ancient Japan. It was used to use it to the local ancient Chinese. In ancient Japan, it was called "東瀛/倭" (the name of the region named by the Chinese emperor). "東瀛/倭" was one of the regimes in ancniet China (especially before the 13th century). Only a large ship made by Chinese people can come and go " 東瀛/倭 ". At that time, other areas were people in the indigenous tribe (the ancestors of the Japanese today). Ancient Japanese 東瀛/倭 history (including ancient Korea 朝鮮 and North Vietnam 交趾) were classical Chinese character . They were written by local Chinese . Chinese personnel who wrote history were literary elites (sent by Chinese officials). Writing history is also the official regulations of China. Historical records in various regions of China need to review the Chinese emperor. These historical history mainly records the stories of ancient Chinese in ancient Japanese倭/Korea朝鮮/North Vietnam交趾(about local Chinese and Chinese palaces). And a small number of local indigenous customs. * ancient japan 東瀛/倭 (before the 13th century) * today japan 日本 ------------------------------ The earliest known written documentation of the Chinese abacus dates to the 2nd century BC (Chinese Han Dynasty). In this way, the beads have been knocking for over two thousand years. The abacus, a unique counting tool invented by ancient Chinese people, has faded out in most areas of China, as calculators and computers are widely used in modern times. But in the long history until only twenty years ago, the abacus has long been an important calculation tool for every household, not to mention accountants and dealers. Having gone through a long history, the Chinese abacus family includes a great number of interesting and rare members. Without a doubt, every treasure of a particular color, material and shape is a gem of the craftsman’s wisdom. The materials used for producing abaci include ivory, elephant bone, rosewood, Brazilian rosewood, ox horn, bronze, iron, bamboo and so on. Made from various materials, the abaci are designed into different forms to meet all kinds of needs of the operators. Below are some remarkable pieces of abacus work.

In smaller shops in Japan, they use a calculator to show you the price and they turn it to you so you can see how much to pay. At first I thought it was for foreigners like myself, but no, it is for locals too. I expect that this practice comes from a time when the same type of shop would use a soroban. By the way, my Japanese mother-in-law uses the soroban to add up receipts for the "household ledger" (a book in which you keep note of your spending habits), which is still a thing in Japan.

when I was younger I lived in japan and had an abacus but never learned how to use it. So glad I found this video, will definitely try learning it since I still have it.

Meanwhile the states argue over the number of gender 😂😂

I learned abacus when I was 7. It was pretty tough for me at they age but honestly it was one of the best experience of my life.

I couldn't even read those numbers, let alone multiply them!

Wow. Must be nice to have a nation of leaders devoted whole heartedly to the early childhood education.

Wish I had learned this. America is so far behind in education it’s ridiculous. This would have been amazingly helpful for me growing up and I’m sure a lot of other students as well. Maybe I’ll try and learn it now as an adult.

My mom legit took me to abacus after-school extracurricular when I was 4th grade. I took it for at least 2 years and since I hate math so much, this didn't help me at all. But in the end, I graduated from engineering school even though I'm bad at math. So, is that count as helping? Lol

Absolutely lovely to see the children using the abacus. It's always good to learn the old ways.

Wowww,!!! I wish this technique get taught by all country's school

the flashing numbers almost made me weak, how much more multiplying millions lmao

In Taiwan too, in my childhood we learnt to use it as part of our curriculum

I remember when it was first introduced to us in our Math class and we learned it back in elementary. This was being thought at school in the Philippines as well.

2:36 - Holy crap the wall clock in the class room is also an abacus clock !

I feel like these Japanese kids have better math than 80% of Americans. This is crazy how far behind we are.

Yeah I had the fortune to learn abacus when I was in 3rd class. I don't remember much now but it still helped me get a grip on basic arithmetics. I think it came through practicing a lot of problems which my Abacus teacher gave in class and as homework

i started learning abacus as early as 2nd grade, before i decided to leave it in 6th grade. i can recall how classes would never start directly with random multiplication or division questions, we were made to write the numbers that the teacher spoke which could be as long as 2 to 4 digits. it actually helps u keeping up with the numbers when u r calculating on abacus or in ur mind. i can only calculate 5x5 digit addition - subtraction , 4x3 or 3x2 digits multiplication - division in my mind but like 30% of the time its wrong lmaoo .

When I was in kindergarten and elementary school I did use this thing to count because the teacher said it make math more fun. and yes indeed it does make math classes became more fun, but when I enter high school we were told to use calculator and it make me hate math more and more. Seeing the number make my head hurts like srsly. The vibe that I always used to feel was really different, to be honest I don't really like using calculator.

Wahh I'm jealous, I wish I was born there😭😭😭♥️

I used to use an abacus 40 years ago to do accounts, addition and subtraction are easy, but multiplication and division are an order of magnitude harder and take months to learn, I believe.

has anyone learned abacus as an adult or an older teen? it's so much trouble to even divide numbers in my head and i'm aware my thinking process is slow. i didn't learn abacus when i was young but i was wondering if i started to learn at a later age, would it help train my brain still?

its poor how my country didn't even have abacus lesson....i was so jelous how skillful this youngster are..

That's amazing!! I wish, I would have learned abacus in school. The teachers touched on it a little bit, but more to show, that there is such a tool as to really use it.

modern americans calculating their diet coke to big mac ratio without an abacus😎

we need a dramatic anime about competitive soroban. and abacus apps on our phones.

I think it's amazing in the land of the rising electronic calculator, how the ancient abacus is still prevalent in modern Japan! Amazing what you can learn from the ancients.

I wish my school was just a tad more serious about the abacus. I actually remember it being fun. I wish I studied it more. We only got a few days' worth of lessons, but that was it.

Very insightful. No wonder all their engineering and almost everything else they make is of the highest quality and extremely reliable!

I feel so worthless watching this, what have I been doing with my life

i swear i ve never seen this kinda learning happening anywhere else in the world. Japan always works harder on human abilities.

I know abacus but feel we should focus on analytical skills rather than being a calculator.

Seeing how they are able to Calulate so fast fills me with determination, now I need to Abacus or something like it.

Man, I love the sound of abacus's. It's soothing like popping bubble wrap 🎶

Boy, that STOP command (approx 1:05) was electrifying - all of them hard-stopped. At the end of school exams Ive taken, there wud always be some of us who wud keep scribbling..."5 more minutes, please, ma'am... " 🙄🙄😀😀

I really want to learn this to this level. I wish 🙏

5:24 to 5:31 that is amazing...15 numbers in 1.5 seconds. For a girl so young to get it right too...astonishing. That's super human ability even with training! Answer 8377 adding up all 15 numbers. I had to slow video to .25x, and still took 10 minutes to make sure I noted down all the numbers correctly, lol.

In UK on avrage more people would be interested in getting fat or sloshed rather showing intrest in improving their health or do some brain gym. The toxic exeptionalism that derive from colonialism is too ingrained in their hippocampus. Hence too many golden mouth that luck basic mathematical, reasonning skills. ..... The sbort movie EXPERT available on RU-vid perfectly dipicts this trend.

This video brings me back to childhood. I've learned abacus in my childhood. There is a nationwide competition of mental arithmetic held in our country every year. We had to solve 100 calculations in 5 minutes in that competition.

Makes sense and mind development, focus, pretty sure abacus students faster than calculator... Thank yous for sharing

looked amazing. remembering how there was one in our home which i never considered much about it? knew it was the calculator and left it at that. with any thing, it requires lots of repeat practice, thats how you become experts at it