azegi 校木

Also pronounced azeki. Chamfered logs used to build walls for storehouses *azekura 校倉, in the ancient periods (8th-12th century). Azegi provided horizontal timbers and could be round, hexagonal, square, or triangular in cross-section; triangular logs were the most common. The surface used for the interior wall was flat, but the other sides that appear on the exterior are slightly concave. Triangular beams could be hewn more easily than thick planks and were more resistant to weathering. Plank walls in storehouses, for example those in the center section, nakagura 中倉, of the *Shōsōin 正倉院 at Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara, have deteriorated to about half their original thickness. Azegi, however, have shown relatively little weathering except on their ends, where they extended outward at the corners. The amount of extension beyond the walls at the corners of the azegi logs increases as they are stacked up.