Okinawan girl aces national abacus test

Noa Azama, a 7-year-old first grade student of Shimabukuro Elementary School, passed the highest 10 Dan level test of the National Abacus Education Association that took place on Jan. 31st.

Noa became the youngest person ever to clear the ’10 Dan’ test, as she was exactly 7 years old when she took the test. The former youngest person to clear the test was a 7-year-one-month old child from Saitama Prefecture.

According to association officials, there were only 26 people of the 6,124 who took the test in January who passed.

Noa has trained abacus at Shuko Abacus School in Shimabukuro, Kitanakagusuku Village since she was four years old. According to Kazuki Kina, one of the teachers at the school, people who can clear the test for the 10-Dan abacus calculation must solve 40 arithmetic operations that include four-digit multiplication and eight-digit division in three minutes. Those who make more than three mistakes per test fail.

11:10 29 Mar , 2024