Japanese symbol for “nave”

外陣

げじん

Romaji: gejin

outer sanctum; nave; transept

In Japanese, nave is 外陣, read げじん (gejin).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

n outer sanctum; nave; transept

Written forms: 外陣. Readings: げじん、がいじん.

Kanji and stroke order

外

outside

on: ガイ、ゲ
kun: そと、ほか、はず.す、はず.れる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

陣

camp, battle array, ranks

on: ジン

10 strokes · JLPT 1

Other Japanese words for “nave”

Word	Reading	Meaning
身廊	しんろう shinrou	nave (of a church)
轂	こしき koshiki	hub (of a wheel); nave

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
海外	かいがい kaigai	foreign; abroad; overseas
外国	がいこく gaikoku	foreign country
以外	いがい igai	excluding; except (for); apart from
外交	がいこう gaikou	diplomacy
意外	いがい igai	unexpected; surprising; unanticipated
外部	がいぶ gaibu	outside (e.g. of a building); exterior
陣営	じんえい jin'ei	camp (supporters of a doctrine, party, etc.); faction (of a party)
報道陣	ほうどうじん houdoujin	press corps

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.