When did the abacus reach Japan?

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East Asian mathematics Counting boards and markers, or counting rods, were used in China to solve systems of linear equations. This is an example from the 1st century ce.

The abacus reached Japan in the 16th century.1

By the end of the 16th century, the abacus and Cheng Dawei’s Systematic Treatise on Mathematics became known in Japan, though these tools did not immediately replace the use of traditional counting rods. The Japanese version of the device, known as the soroban, was later popularized through works such as the 1627 publication Jingoki by Yoshida Mitsuyoshi, which described its use and provided an important foundation for the emerging Japanese mathematical tradition.23