The bridgeway (hashigakari) connecting the backstage area with the main stage is lined with three pine trees, each increasingly larger as one approaches the main stage to suggest distance traveled. The bridgeway is more than just a passageway to the main stage, however, constituting an important performance space in its own right. One position on the bridgeway is called the “kyōgen seat” (kyōgen-za), so named because that is where the ai kyōgen performer will sit and wait for hispart during a noh play.
