３月９日（木曜日）２０１７
家に古い五つ珠の算盤（そろばん）があります。これは曾祖母や祖母が土産物屋をしていた時に使っていたものでしょう。29cm X 11cm X 3.5cm の黒光りした堂々たる算盤です。歯科医だった父は月初めになると診療の点数を計算するのに電卓を使っていましたが、どういう訳かこの古い算盤もパチパチ音を立てながら使っていました。パチパチ、パチパチ…趣のあるいい響きでした。算盤は私も子供の頃に習いましたが、それは四つ珠。五つ珠、どうやって計算するのでしょうね。今の私はといえば、使うのは３０年前にデパートで買ったハローキティーの計算機。愛用品です。I found an old abacus which has five beads in each line under a bar. This must have been used by my great grandmother and grandmother when they were running their souvenir shop in the old days. It is a blackish, heavy abacus sized 29cmx11cmx3.5cm. My father, who was a dentist, was also using this abacus to calculate medical remuneration points in the beginning of every month although he used to use a calculator as well. It was a nice sound to listen when he was working with it. I learned abacus with four beads when I was a child. I am curious how they used the one with five beads. I have been using a Hello Kitty calculator which I bought at the department store 30 years ago. It is my favorite item because it's so cute!
