Emily Chan
The equations on the fragment of the multiplication table are arranged from right to left. Five rows of equations were written going down from the top. It likely made up the upper right-hand portion of the larger table. The discovery stands out from similar multiplication tables found in Japan, as those ones only had two to three rows.
Multiplication tables with five rows more closely resemble artifacts from China’s Qin and Han dynasties, which spanned from the third century B.C.E. to the third century C.E. This particular table may have been created during Japan’s Kofun period, which lasted from the third to the seventh century.
Emon-fu officers would have used multiplication tables for administrative tasks, such as calculating taxes or organizing work schedules for government employees.
However, this multiplication table might have served another purpose since it could predate the period when Fujiwara-kyō was Japan’s capital. Experts have speculated that the table was possibly used for calculating the dimensions of burial mounds.
Overall, the multiplication table points to the practical applications of mathematics and the responsibilities of bureaucrats in ancient Japan.
