What a gejin is
A gejin is the outer area of a Buddhist hall, where worshippers stand. It is paired with the Naijin that holds the principal image, and fittings and bracketing mark the boundary between them.
In a Pure Land hall it occupies the front half of the plan. The main hall of Saifukuji in Shiga Prefecture, built in 1862, is described as divided front to back, the front half forming this area and the rear half divided into three along its length to give a sanctuary with side bays, which the entry calls the characteristic plan of a hall of that sect.
The Hontokuji hall in Hyogo Prefecture, built in 1898, is described as combining a front room roofed Irimoya-zukuri and entered from the eaves side with a two-tier Hōgyō-zukuri rear room, and is called a good example of a compound hall possessing both sanctuary and outer area. Having both is what makes a hall complete.
Ornament gathers at the boundary. The main hall of Sorinji in Shiga Prefecture, from the late Edo period, is described as modest in scale but thorough in detail, with bracketing and a Shirin at the boundary and carving on the Kōryō.
Winning space
To hold a congregation the outer area is sometimes opened up by removing columns. The main hall of Tokujuji in Aichi Prefecture, built in 1896, is described as setting a screen wall and Shumidan in the sanctuary under a finely subdivided Gō-tenjō, while the outer area omits the columns between rooms and uses bamboo-node Ranma to create a broad open space.
Dropping the columns and keeping the transoms light makes the space read as larger, in deliberate contrast to the formal treatment of the sanctuary.
Ceilings differ too. The Amida hall at Shitennoji in Osaka, built in 1674, is described as having a plan divided between an outer area with exposed and flat ceilings, a coffered sanctuary, and a rear area. Ceilings are distributed in order of formality.
Visitors look in from here. Access to the sanctuary is usually restricted, and this is where worshippers belong.
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs: National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties (structures)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/kokuho_bunkazai.html
- National Cultural Properties Database: Saifukuji main hall, its ridge-end tile inscribed 1865, with an outer area and an inner sanctuary flanked by side bays
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003104
- National Cultural Properties Database: Hontokuji hall, a compound Buddhist hall with both outer area and inner sanctuary
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003130
- National Cultural Properties Database: Sorinji main hall, with bracketing and carved beams at the boundary between outer and inner areas
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003105
- National Cultural Properties Database: Tokujuji main hall, with an altar dais before a rear screen wall under a subdivided coffered ceiling
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009292
- National Cultural Properties Database: Shitennoji Amida hall, combining exposed, flat and coffered ceilings across its three areas
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014260
Last verified: 2026.09.11