take-no-fushi ranma 竹の節欄間

Also take-no-fushi 竹の節. Lit. "bamboo joint transom." A type of transom shaped like a balustrade which became popular in the 16th century. The main posts are short and wide, and are carved with nodes that resemble bamboo joints. Their tops are peaked in a pyramidal shape hōsuikei 方錘形, like a monk's cap tokingata 兜巾形, and sometimes are covered by a metal fitting called tokin kanamono 兜巾金物. Between these are boards with openwork carving *sukashibori 透彫, or slender timbers of lattice. Some have horizontal strips added, while other shave only parallel, or horizontal strips that fill the entire space. Still others are filled with openwork designs or small carvings.

Take-no-fushi ranma are used above a lintel uchiori nageshi 内法長押 or a panel *wakishōji 脇障子 in temple and shrine architecture. The most decorative type, sometimes covered with black lacquer, are used in aristocratic and chief priests' dwellings *hōjō 方丈. The earliest extant examples are found at Myōshinji Reiun'in Shoin 妙心寺霊雲院書院 in Kyoto, Edo period.