page_title: Hanamichi
section_title: Usages
hierarchical_section_title: Hanamichi / Usages
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 三代目歌川豐國画『踊形容江戸繪榮』大判錦繪三枚續物（安政五年七月江戸市村座上演の『暫』）。 English: Odori-keiyō Edo-e no Sakae by Toyokuni Utagawa III, depicting the July 1858 production of Shibaraku.
context_page_description: The hanamichi is an extra stage section used in Japanese kabuki theater. It is a long, raised platform, running left of centre to the stage through the audience, connecting to the main stage.
  The hanamichi is typically used for character entrances and exits, though is also used for asides and scenes that do not take place in the location as scenes on the main stage; the hanamichi also typically features a trapdoor just before the runway meets the stage, placed to be visible to everyone in the audience, which is commonly used for character entrances. Some kabuki plays also require the use of two hanamichi, running along the left and right of the audience.
context_section_description: Though rarely used for the main action of a play, much of the more dramatic or famous character moments occur during entrances or exits along the hanamichi. Many particularly dramatic actions take place seven-tenths of the way down the hanamichi (three-tenths away from the stage), at a spot known in Japanese as shichisan (七三) (lit., "seven-three"). It is here that exiting characters may say their final words, and entering characters may address the audience or the characters on stage. Since the hanamichi runs through the audience, it allows for a closer experience for the spectator than might normally be allowed by other forms of traditional theater.
caption: The July 1858 production of Shibaraku at the Edo Ichimura-za theatre, with the hanamichi shown on the left
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