suppon
すっぽん
すっぽんthe hanamichi trap for unearthly beings
INSTANT ANSWER
The suppon is the small trap in the hanamichi reserved, by convention, for sorcerers, spirits, and other beings beyond the human.
The suppon is a small stage trap set into the hanamichi at the spot called shichisan, partway between stage and auditorium. By long-standing convention it is used only for those beyond the human—sorcerers, apparitions, ghosts, creatures of fantasy.
The figure rises slowly, head first, sometimes wreathed in smoke—another world yawning open in the middle of the audience. It is one of kabuki's most striking ideas: the supernatural appears not at a distance on stage, but at your side.
The curious name is said to come from the creature itself: an actor rising head-first from the trap resembles a soft-shelled turtle stretching its neck from its shell. It is an oddly endearing name for a piece of stage machinery—and the way eeriness and humor live side by side in it is kabuki through and through.
The suppon itself belongs to kabuki as a whole, yet beings beyond the human—wrathful deities and vengeful spirits—also fill the Kabuki Jūhachiban plays handed down in the Ichikawa Sōke (the head family of the Ichikawa Danjūrō lineage), such as Narukami and Fudō. The imagination that summons supernatural power onto the stage resonates deeply with the spirit of aragoto.
- 1Yagura — the licence tower
- 2Naraku — beneath stage and hanamichi
- 3Seri — the lifts
- 4Suppon — the hanamichi lift
- 5Hanamichi — the walkway
Plays Where You Can See It
- NarukamiNarukami — The Thunder GodThe holy priest Narukami, wronged by the imperial court, has sealed the rain-bringing dragon god beneath a waterfall, plunging the land into drought.Kabuki JūhachibanView play
- FudōFudō — The Immovable DeityIn Fudō, the deity Fudō Myōō—object of the Ichikawa Sōke's devotion at Naritasan Shinshōji temple—manifests directly upon the stage.Kabuki JūhachibanView play
Read this next
These words meet on the same stage. Knowing one makes the next easier to see.
- セリseriSeri are kabuki's stage elevators—sections of the floor that rise and sink with actors or entire sets aboard.Read
- 花道hanamichiThe hanamichi is a raised runway through the audience that turns an actor's entrances and exits into dramatic highlights of their own.Read
- 押戻しoshimodoshiOshimodoshi is the set-piece—and hero role—in which an aragoto champion pushes a raging spirit back down the hanamichi; it is also counted among the Kabuki Jūhachiban.Read
Sources & Supervision
- Author
- KABUKI Universe Editorial Team
- Supervision
- Ichikawa Danjūrō
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
Supervision means Ichikawa Danjūrō has reviewed this page's intent and key points. The text is the editorial team's writing, not Ichikawa Danjūrō's own statements. Editorial responsibility rests with the team, which corrects any error. Read the editorial policy