A complex band structure describes the dispersion relation not only of propagating bulk states but also of evanescent ones, both of which are together referred to as generalized Bloch states and are important for understanding the electronic nature of solid surfaces and interfaces. On the basis of the real-space finite-difference formalism within the framework of the density functional theory, we formulate the Kohn-Sham equation for generalized Bloch wave functions as a generalized eigenvalue problem without using any Green's function matrix. By exploiting the sparseness of the coefficient matrices and using the Sakurai-Sugiura projection method, we efficiently solve the derived eigenvalue problem for the propagating and slowly decaying/growing evanescent waves, which are essential for describing the physics of surface/interface states. The accuracy of the generalized Bloch states and the computational efficiency of the present method in solving the eigenvalue problem obtained are compared with those by other methods using the Green's function matrix. In addition, we propose two computational techniques to be combined with the Sakurai-Sugiura projection method and achieve further improvement in the accuracy and efficiency. Complex band structures are calculated with the present method for single- and multiwall carbon nanotubes, and the interwall hybridization and branch points of evanescent electronic states observed in the imaginary parts of the band structures are also discussed.