wakugi 和釘

Also called nihon kugi 日本釘. A square nail used during and after the Kofun period. The nail was made of hand-wrought iron and was 3 to 60 cm long. Wakugi were classified by the shape of the nail head. The oldest nail of this type had a square head. Other heads were flat or spiral in shape.The nails were used to secure roof tiles yanegawara 屋根瓦 to eave ends *nokisaki 軒先. Double-pointed nails were used to join two wooden members to make a line like a seam nuime 縫目. This method appeared during the Heian period. At the Hōryūji *Gojū no tō 法隆寺五重塔, 27 different types of nails have been identified, ranging in length from slightly over 3.03 to over 60.9 cm.