[March 20th is Calculator Day] From scientific calculators and pocket computers to calculation sites. What are the most popular calculations?

March 20th is calculator day. Speaking of calculators, of course, "calculations". I heard that there is a site that provides more than 1,000 types of calculations that are useful for daily life and work for free, so I visited the creator. Then the conversation develops into calculations, scientific calculators, and pocket computers... This time, as a special edition of the series "IT news useful for work", we will post a column about calculators and calculations.

March 20th is "Calculator Day"

Released in 1972, the calculator "Casio Mini" was a huge hit at an exceptionally low price of 12,800 yen. It gained popularity with a commercial called "Answer one shot! Casio Mini". Since then, a calculator has become something that everyone has. View all images (13 photos)

March 20th is "Calculator Day". It was established in 1974 by the then Japan Office Equipment Manufacturers Association. There is no particular pun. It seems that it is associated with March 18, 1964, when Sharp released the first calculator made in Japan.

Speaking of calculator makers in Japan, Casio should not be forgotten along with Sharp. They have introduced various calculators to the market as rivals to each other.

Actually, Sharp was the first calculator made in Japan, but it was Casio Computer that developed the world's first purely electric calculator.

There is a place where you can still see the working parts of that electric calculator. It is the Toshio Kashio Invention Museum in Seijo, Setagaya Ward. Toshio Kashio, one of the three Kashio brothers who founded Casio Computer Co., Ltd., was an inventor and was also responsible for the development of the 14-A. Therefore, starting from Calculator Day, the Calculator/Electronic Dictionary Exhibition for Learning and Play will be held from March 21st to May 10th.

The world's first compact all-electric calculator "14-A". It was invented in 1957 by Toshio Kashio, the founder of Casio. The entire desk is a calculator, using 341 relays. Operation part of "14-A". Note the display of numbers (left). 341 relays are lined up on the back (upper right). A relay is a machine that turns on and off by moving a switch with an electromagnet. They were arranged side by side and electricity was passed through, and calculations were performed (lower right).

In conjunction with this special exhibition, a briefing session for the media was held.

Enlarge photo "CLASSWIZ fx-JP900", one of Casio's latest scientific calculators. Equipped with a spreadsheet function, data can be transferred externally using a QR code, and graphs can be displayed.

I heard an interesting story there. Speaking of educational products derived from calculators, scientific calculators and electronic dictionaries are typical, but while Casio's electronic dictionaries are overwhelmingly sold in Japan, scientific calculators are not popular in countries other than Japan. Sales in Japan are said to be “extremely low.”

Electronic dictionaries are popular as a way to celebrate school entrance in Japan during the new school season, but scientific calculators line the shelves in Europe.

Why are there so few scientific calculators in Japan that sell so well overseas? This may be due to differences in educational policies in each country. In the United States, there are some universities that require you to bring a scientific calculator to exams, but in Japan, there are many that do not allow it.

Electronic dictionaries replaced conventional paper dictionaries, so they were accepted immediately, but calculators were accepted by people who disliked change because they would completely change education that had traditionally been painstakingly calculated by hand. Is it not possible?

Mr. Hitoshi Arai of the Nagano Prefectural Education Center, who appeared as a guest at the presentation, said, ``The important thing in mathematics education is not the ability to calculate, but the thought process of elucidating something with mathematical thinking. Calculators can also perform calculations that would be difficult to process manually, so they should be useful in programming education to teach students how to organize their thoughts and give commands."