The abacus popular again in Japan.

From The Japan Times:

The popularity of the abacus, now rarely used in the world of calculators, has recently been on the rise as many parents concerned about their children's math ability have started sending them to abacus schools to develop their skills.

The number of applicants for the national abacus certification exam, which peaked at 2.04 million in 1980, slumped to a low of 180,000 in 2005. But since then, applications have been on the rise and hit 200,000 in 2008.

"(The recovery) coincided with the time when many parents started to worry about the academic performance of their children because of the (recent) relaxed style of education" at public schools, said Hiroshi Nakayama, managing director of the League of Japan Abacus Associations. The league organizes the certification exam.

"The value of the abacus has been reassessed because it can improve the calculating ability and concentration power of the user," Nakayama said.