Development and popularization of arithmetic

The Edo Period boasted a long stable period of peace that facilitated the birth of a society in which commoners, too, could learn "reading, writing, and abacus calculation" at terakoya (private elementary schools). The study of Wasan (traditional Japanese mathematics), once confined to scholars and certain members of the warrior class, also spread among commoners due to its practical application in study and business. Mathematics schools emerged in the academic field, and the ensuing intellectual competition led to the development of a high level body of mathematics comparative to Western mathematics.