An ancient word for *ashiba 足場 or ashishiro 足代, scaffolding made of logs and/or rough timber. Derived from ashi-no-oginai 足の補 (foothold); hence, supporting posts that provide a place on which to stand. The document Wamyōshō 倭名抄, dating from the mid-8th century, states that a scaffolding was erected at the 8th-century Yakushiji 薬師寺 in Nara to accommodate the 84 people employed to erect the halo for the Buddha statue of the temple. It reads hotoke tsukuri hikari ananai isaoshi hachijūyo hito 作仏光麻柱功八十四人. This term also is found in the Daifuki 大府記 (1074), used in reference to the reconstruction of a pagoda at Hosshōji 法勝寺 in Kyoto, which burned down shortly after completion in 1058. It states: daiku ika ananai wo tate kore wo utsu 大工以下麻柱を立て之を打つ, meaning 'a scaffolding was erected beneath the spot where the carpenters had to stand'.