Ranma

What a ranma is

A ranma is the opening between the head of a doorway and the ceiling. It divides rooms while letting light and air pass, and it is where carpenters place carved panels or fine latticework.

Records name it among the things that make a reception room. The Kunrakuso inn in Mie Prefecture, from the late Meiji period, is described as having five rooms downstairs and six upstairs, each worked with an alcove, shelving and a transom of its own.

Types are distinguished. The white study at Ninnaji in Kyoto, built in 1890, is described as six rooms in two ranks with an open veranda across the front, the divisions between the front rooms fitted with bamboo-node transoms and the rooms given a Tokonoma and shelving.

The main hall of Tokujuji in Aichi Prefecture, built in 1896, is described as omitting the columns between rooms in its outer area and using the same light transom treatment to create an open space.

A field for carving

Gates use them as well. The imperial gate at Ninnaji, built in 1914, is described as a four-legged gate with a curved gable roofed in Hiwadabuki, with widely spaced Taruki and a pierced transom above its panelled doors.

The gate and flanking walls at Koryuji in Hokkaido are described as richly ornamented, with dragons in cloud, lions, birds and flowers carved on the Kaerumata and the transoms alike.

When visiting, look at the band between the door heads and the ceiling. Whether it is left open, filled with a carved panel or closed with latticework distinguishes the types, and neighbouring rooms of different rank often differ in exactly that.