Goshuin Book Guide Goshuin Book Guide 日本語

Goshuin Book Guide

Which way the fold runs, how to mount a loose sheet, what size cover fits.
The parts people get stuck on, decided from your own conditions.

Work it out

A white measuring tape laid out across a wood-grain board

Size & Accessory Fit Check

Standard or large, written in or mounted. See which covers, pouches, cases and files fit.

Check the fit
A stone-paved approach path winding through deep green hills

One Book or Two?

Separate books for shrines and temples? Decided from frequency, pilgrimage plans and the goshuimon case.

Find out

Learn how to use it

A brown leather-covered book lying open at a double page

How to Use a Goshuin Book

Which way the fold runs, which way the pages go, and what happens at the counter.

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A plain white notebook lying open at a blank double page

Which Page to Start From

Do you leave page one empty? Does the inside cover count? Does the order matter?

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A sheet of white washi paper with faint fibre traces running through it

Using the Reverse Side

May you use the back of the page? The four cases where you should not, and how to test the paper.

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Visitors walking an approach path lined with tall cedar trees

Forgot It, Wet, Skipped a Page

Left at home, rained on, a page skipped, lost. What to do on the spot and afterwards.

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A tatami room with an engawa veranda looking onto a garden

Storing Your Goshuin Book

Do you need an altar? Where to keep it against damp, sun and insects, and why paulownia works.

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Covers and pouches

A book lying open inside a brown leather cover

Choosing a Cover

Clear, leather, fabric, hundred-yen. Each protects against something different.

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A purple basket bag with a set of black-corded Japanese accessories

Pouches, Cases and Carrying

Pouch or case, packing so the corners survive, and the wrapping option.

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Visitors stopping at the office in the grounds of a shrine

Where to Buy a Goshuin Book

Offices, specialists, online, stationers. What the price buys and what to check when ordering.

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Loose sheets, and beyond

FeaturedA sheet of white paper held by a wooden clip

Mounting a Kakioki Sheet

Mounting without cockling: tape glue at the corners only, and what to do with double-page sheets.

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A ring notebook, a leather diary and a blue file laid out on a desk

Filing Kakioki Without Glue

Keeping sheets unmounted: choosing by sheet size, and what works from hundred-yen shops and Muji.

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A red cylindrical post box on a street of old townhouses

Goshuin by Post

By post: checking it is offered, what to enclose, and packing a book for the round trip.

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The heavy wooden gate of a temple at the foot of a mountain

Nokyocho and Goshuimoncho

Three similar-looking books with different origins, and how many you actually need.

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Fallen leaves and moss on the stone steps of a cedar-lined approach

When the Book Is Full

A finished book: why nothing obliges you to return it, and what otakiage involves.

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How to use this site

  1. Buying a first book? Settle how many you need with the one-book-or-two finder, then look at where to buy
  2. Already have a book and shopping for a cover or a pouch? Put your own measurements into the fit check
  3. Loose sheets piling up? Decide first whether to mount them. There is a page for each answer