Why JAMS
Since 2001, JAMS has used Japanese abacus training to help Portland-area children build real math skills and the confidence to take on hard things.
I've always believed that teaching abacus is about much more than teaching children how to calculate.
Of course, strong math skills are important. But what I really want children to learn is how to think independently, face challenges, make mistakes, keep trying, and eventually believe in themselves.
That's why our classes are structured and our standards are high. Not to make learning hard for its own sake, but because children grow the most when they do something difficult and succeed. At the same time, I want every child to enjoy learning, feel proud of their progress, and want to keep going.
It's not about perfection. It's about excellence.
Miwako Sakabayashi, Founder
Parents don't send their children to martial arts to become professional fighters. They want them to become stronger, more disciplined, and more confident.
We see JAMS the same way, except we use mathematics to train the mind.
The comparison goes further than you might think. Students train in a structured class with a teacher who knows what they need next. They practice at home between classes. They test to move up, and every level is earned. And just like a black belt, reaching the upper levels isn't the end. It's when a student truly understands what they've built.
Today's children can get answers instantly. Ask a phone, ask an app, ask AI. That's useful. But a child who never has to work through a problem never learns that they can.
Abacus training does the opposite. Every answer is built by the child, bead by bead, and later entirely in their head. No shortcuts. Just focus, practice, and the quiet confidence of knowing exactly how they got there.
Abacus training builds five skills that show up in every class your child takes.
Adding ten two-digit numbers takes about 30 bead movements. One slip and the answer is wrong. Students learn to stay with a task from start to finish.
A short daily practice, 10 to 15 minutes, 5 days a week, becomes a habit that carries into homework and beyond.
Students learn to break big calculations into steps, catch their own mistakes, and fix them.
Timed practice teaches kids to work quickly and carefully at the same time.
Every level is earned, not given. Moving up proves to a child that effort pays off.
Soroban is the Japanese abacus. Students calculate by moving beads, which turns numbers into something they can see and touch.
As their skills grow, students begin Anzan: picturing the abacus in their mind and calculating mentally, with speed and accuracy, no abacus needed. Anzan is where abacus training becomes a lifelong mental skill.
Our student achievers
These students mastered the abacus one level at a time.
“An obvious influence of abacus is the development of your mathematical/ mental math skills. Having started at such a young age, I was able to skip ahead in most of the elementary school math. A great thing from what that was the confidence you would gain. Abacus has taught me about persistence as well moving through the different levels of abacus was very difficult and oftentimes I contemplated giving up, but knowing the reward on the other side really kept me going.”
Ren Morita
“I had been a student at JAMS from the age of six to fifteen, and it has allowed me to develop my math skills throughout the years. Not only that but it has also provided me a great community that has supported me in both my education and personal development. Learning the abacus gave me confidence in my math skills and gave me motivation to pursue higher level courses of math in my student career.”
Rinoka Morita
“I am so grateful that my parents enrolled me at JAMS. Once I started learning the abacus, math and other school subjects came much more easily to me. It was an extremely rewarding experience that helped me build the confidence and focus that I needed to succeed in school and my future. With these skills. I was able to push myself to take harder classes, which helped me discover my passions later on in life. I can’t thank Miwako Sensei and her program enough for shaping me into the person I am today!”
Meg Okada
“My experience with Abacus and JAMS Portland with Sensei Miwako has provided me a strong foundation that I still benefit from years later. As an elementary school student learning with this method, I could not have known the benefit I would continue to derive, but I am so grateful to have gotten to learn this way. I hope many others can find a similar experience!”
Brandon Kyung
“Because of this class, I had actually gotten some joy out of doing math, and I still use some of their methods in order to do longer calculations. With JAMS, I had actually started looking forward to math classes in school because I had gotten better at it. Though it was hard for me in the beginning, I don’t think I would be as successful as a student as I am today without it.”
Adam Shinomiya
JAMS is the only abacus school in the Portland and Beaverton area certified by the League for Soroban Education of America. Our students take regional and national tests and compete alongside abacus students from across the country.
Our mission
We teach Soroban and Anzan to give every student a solid foundation in mental math, along with the number sense, concentration, patience, memory, and judgment to succeed in school and in life. Every child is capable. Our job is to give them the tools and the training to prove it.
The best way to understand JAMS is to watch your child in class. JAMS is month-to-month, so getting started is easy.
