I have been studying soroban for more than three years now. Since I still want that first dan degree, and I am now training almost daily again, I consider myself a serious student.
Of course, you wouldn’t know that by looking at my equipment. My soroban is second-hand (and it shows if you look closely). And, during all this time of studying, I carried it with me simply wrapped in a sheet of newspaper.
I wanted to have a nice soroban cover for a while now, but finally last weekend, I took out some time to sew one. This is the result, and I am quite pleased with it:
Except for two full afternoons of time from the planning stages to the finish, it didn’t cost me anything: The outside is cut from an old pair of jeans, and the lining (the cover is fully lined, not just on top) is made from the leftover of another project. The cover is a little tighter than I had planned, probably because of the lining, but for a first try it turned out very well indeed.
And now, you would even guess by looking at me that I am a serious student!
Looks very nice. Do you have a sewing machine or did you hand-stitch? 🙂
Thank you! Of course I have a machine – I am neither patient nor precise enough for hand stitching. 😉
I do quite a lot of these little projects. Sewing clothing is a completely different animal. Most of what I do in that department is a simple “let’s cut off those jeans, shall we?”
Hi, Inspired by your blog I started teaching the Soroban to my son when he was 4. Three years later he passed the Kyu 6 exam. Because of Anzan, his arithmetic has become really good. Pity nobody here in the U.K. knows or cares about the Soroban.
He really liked the pictures of the Soroban museum that you posted. Maybe one day we will visit Japan. Good luck on your journey to getting Dan 1 qualification. Wonderful blog.
Thank you for your nice comment!
My sensei’s youngest students are also around 4 years old. He teaches them twice a week for 20-25 minutes or so. It’s really cute watching them working with the soroban – and how seriously they are doing it! I will never be able to match their speed…
Good luck to your son for moving up in the soroban ranks! I’m sure HE will be first dan in no time! 😉 And who knows, you may come to Japan sooner than you think!