Originally 'genkan' was a Chinese term used in Taoism (in the Neidan, or spiritual alchemy method of Chinese alchemy, the genkan is the place where the ki [vital force that operates the body] first enters the body in order to circulate), and also a term used in Zen Buddhism (it is thought that when Daruma [Bodhidharma] brought Zen to Japan he directed that the word dhyana, meaning meditation, should be translated as "gen", which later became "zen"), and from these concepts 'genpinnokan' (gate leading to the road of genmyo [something black and not recognizable as to what it is but potentially spiritually deep]).
本来、中国の道教（錬丹術の内丹の法では体内にある気を巡らすための最初に気を通す場所のことである）、禅（達磨による禅の伝来の際、達磨の指示でディヤーナを玄（後に禪（禅）と訳す）と訳したともされる）などの用語で「玄関」とは「玄妙の道に入る關門」（「玄牝の関」）ことである。