Azekura

A storehouse whose walls are made of azeki (wooden timbers) stacked in a well-shaped cage. It is generally on raised floors. The azeki are made of triangular or square timbers with the corners cut flat before being stacked. In ancient times, it was also written as kogura (a wooden storehouse), kakugura (a wooden storehouse), or shagura (a wooden storehouse). In Nara period storehouses such as the Shosoin Treasure House and the Toshodaiji Sutra House and Treasure House, the azeki on the front and sides are arranged in staggered rows, but in storehouses from the Middle Ages onwards, such as the Koyasan Kongo Sammaiin Sutra House (Kamakura period) and the Itsukushima Shrine Treasure House (Muromachi period), some storehouses have azeki with the edges of all sides aligned, and in Edo period storehouses such as the Nikko Toshogu Shrine Treasure House, some use both azeki and pillars. Storehouses where logs or planks are stacked instead of azeki are called marukigura (a wooden storehouse) and ita storehouse (a wooden storehouse), respectively. Currently, azekura remain in temples and shrines as treasure houses or sutra repositories, but in the Nara period, they were few in number compared to log storehouses or wooden storehouses, and were built as grain storehouses in central government offices and local government offices of the provinces and counties. Incidentally, the popular belief that the wood of the azekura expands and contracts depending on whether it is wet or dry, and controls the humidity inside the azekura, is incorrect.

[Kudou Yoshiaki]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

壁面が校木(あぜき)で井籠(せいろう)組に積み上げられた倉。一般に高床(たかゆか)とする。校木は三角材または角材の角を平らに削り落として積まれる。古くは甲倉、格倉、叉倉とも記される。正倉院宝庫、唐招提寺(とうしょうだいじ)経蔵・宝蔵など奈良時代の校倉は、正面と側面の校木が段違いに組まれるが、高野山金剛三昧院(さんまいいん)経蔵（鎌倉時代）や厳島(いつくしま)神社宝蔵（室町時代）など中世以降の校倉には、校木が稜(りょう)を各面そろえて組まれるものも現れ、さらに日光東照宮神庫のように江戸時代の校倉では、校木と柱を併用するものもみられる。校木のかわりに丸太材や板材を積み上げた倉は、それぞれ丸木倉、板倉とよばれる。現在、校倉は宝蔵や経蔵として社寺などに残されているが、奈良時代には中央官庁をはじめ国・郡の地方官庁でも、丸木倉や板倉に比べて数は少なく、穀倉として建てられている。なお、校木が乾湿に従って伸縮し、校倉内部の湿度を調節するという俗説は誤りである。

［工藤圭章］

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