Yes, with conditions
A concertina book is one folded sheet, so working through the front leaves you the back. Using it presents no problem in itself. No rule forbids it, and plenty of people fill a book on both sides.
There are, though, four situations where you should not. Check these first and you will not regret anything after the brush has touched the page.
- Thin paper. Ink and seal paste come through and land on the entry on the other side
- Show-through already visible. If you can see the shadow of the brushwork from the far side, that book's reverse is spent
- Behind a mounted sheet. Glue and an extra thickness of paper make a ridge the brush catches on
- Where the place declines it. A few temples and shrines post that they will not write on a reverse
In practice, the first and the third are the ones that actually bite.
Test the paper before you commit
Whether the reverse is usable is decided almost entirely by the paper. Check when the book is new and you will not be caught out at the far end.
Hold it to the light
Lift one leaf towards a window. If the outline of your finger behind it reads clearly, the paper is light. Ink will go through that.
Make a test mark
In the corner of the very last page, draw one stroke with a wet brush or a broad water-based pen and watch the back. If the bleed reaches the reverse, ink will too. Use the last page so nothing important is behind it.
If it has already come through
There is no undoing it. That does not mean the book is finished.
| What you see | Reverse usable? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A faint shadow | Yes | Carry on; it will not spoil anything |
| Characters legible through the page | Better not | Skip the reverse; move to a new book when the front is full |
| Seal paste showing through | Better not | Paper thin enough to pass vermilion will certainly pass ink |
| Only some pages affected | Judge page by page | Use the reverse of the clean ones |
Ruling out the reverse halves your capacity. A 24-fold book gives you 24 faces, about a year at two visits a month. When to line up the next one is covered in when the book is full.
Which way does the reverse run?
Reaching the end of the front, turn the book over and work from the back cover, again right to left. It feels exactly like the front, so there is nothing to relearn.
Some people note the date on the changeover page so the boundary between front and back is obvious when they look back through it later.
At the counter nothing changes: open the book at the page you want written and hand it over. You do not need to announce that it is a reverse, though with light paper a quick "is the reverse all right?" lets them make the call.
The interleaving slip
Where you are unsure of the paper, slip a thin sheet behind the page being written. Whatever passes through stops there.
- If your book came with interleaving slips, use those
- Otherwise cut washi or hanshi to page size and keep a few with the book
- Avoid tissue and blotting paper: the fibres can stick to wet ink
The same slip earns its keep while the ink dries. Left in before you close the book, it also stops transfer to the facing page. How to use a goshuin book covers this alongside the rest of the day.
Read next
Practice around goshuin and the books that hold them differs between shrines, temples and Buddhist schools. What follows is general orientation, not a rule. Notices posted on site and the guidance of the office there always take precedence. Nichiren-shu temples inscribe a goshuimon, and some will not write it into a book that already holds entries from elsewhere.
PR — This page contains promotional content
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the back of the pages in a goshuin book?
Yes. No rule makes it a discourtesy and filling a book on both sides is common. Avoid it where the paper is light enough to show through, where ink has already come through, behind a mounted loose sheet, or where the shrine or temple posts that it does not write on reverses.
How do I tell whether the paper will show through?
Hold a leaf up to the light: if your finger behind it reads clearly, the paper is light. Or draw one stroke with a water-based pen in the corner of the last page and see whether the bleed reaches the back. If it does, ink will.
Ink has already come through. Is the reverse unusable?
A faint shadow is fine to work over. Where the characters are legible through the page, or seal paste has come through, skip the reverse and move to a new book once the front is full.
Which end of the reverse do I start from?
Turn the book over and start from the back cover, working right to left just as on the front. Noting the date on the changeover page makes the boundary easy to find later.
Is there a way to stop show-through?
Slip a thin sheet behind the page being written and anything that passes through stops there. Use the interleaving slips supplied with the book if it came with any. Avoid tissue, whose fibres can stick to wet ink.