President Liu Jianhua, leaders of the WAAMA and distinguished guests,

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations again. At the same time, I am very happy to participate in the expanded meeting of the Council of the WAAMA.

Although entrusted with the important task of Vice President of the WAAMA, I have not been able to attend the meeting of the Council as expected. I hereby apologize to President Liu Jianhua and other leaders.

Before the founding of the WAAMA, the League for Soroban Education of Japan. Inc. I belong to has established a profound friendship with the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association, and has been committed to close exchanges between officials and players of both sides for a long time. The WAAMA has inherited this mantle, so we have become members since the founding of the WAAMA in October 2002, and we are once again determined to develop abacus education activities in your country, Japan and the world. The enthusiasm for abacus education has made remarkable achievements in the research report meeting held regularly every year, which was published in WAAMA NEWS and other publications, greatly encouraging people engaged in abacus overseas. These researches involve brain science, arithmetic, teaching methods and other fields, and will also have a great impact on teaching methods.

In the quadrennial World Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Championships that Japan also participated in, the players from all provinces of China have always occupied the top of the list. I heard that their excellent computing ability had a great impact on Japanese players, which has become their unforgettable memories.

This meeting is also a celebration of the 9th anniversary of Chinese Zhusuan becoming a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. It also well proves the cultural value of abacus, a wisdom bred by human beings and comparable to the invention of the world. Back in history, human beings found numbers and used them to build civilization, which is the basis of Chinese abacus. Therefore, abacus should be the "treasure" in your country's folklore.

This time, I was lucky to have the opportunity to introduce the abacus education in Japan in the seminar. I will give this opportunity to Mr. Okahisa Yasuo and ask him to introduce the current situation of Japanese education reported by Japanese education newspapers recently.

The front-line teachers believe that "from the results of the nationwide academic examination, the inadequacy of Japanese education lies in its inability to give children a sense of self-identity, so it should be changed to an education that improves their sense of self-identity", which requires cultivating the children's positive and self-confident perspective.

The small step teaching method of abacus and mental arithmetic education is just the way to give a sense of self-identity, which can be said to be a very suitable positive educational tool. I believe that children in any country or region will be inspired by a sense of self affirmation after learning abacus and mental arithmetic, and will show perseverance in other subjects, studies and activities.

Allow me to say one more word. The inscription of Chinese Zhusuan in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage has proved that rare goods are livable, which is also a happy event for the WAAMA and abacus related people around the world. However, if you want the abacus to play its value as a rare treasure, you should not just let it stay at the height of cultural heritage, but also play its due role from the perspective of children, and let them feel the real energy of treasures.

I will continue to work with people from different countries and regions to find new advantages in abacus education.

In recent years, the COVID-19 epidemic has swept the globe. Unknown enemies have taken away the precious things of human beings, but they cannot take away the human wisdom of abacus and mental arithmetic education. I wish that the cause of abacus in the world will make a further leap through the efforts of the WAAMA.

October 2022