In kabuki, it is decided as a traditional form that a character who enters from the hanamichi stops the action and shows short performance (sometimes the performance is long) when he comes to the place where is between three-tenths and four-tenths of the hanamichi (three-tenths of the hanamichi) if it is divided into ten equal parts.
歌舞伎では花道から登場する人物は、七三の位置（花道を十等分して舞台から三分目と四分目の間）で一旦動きを止め、短い演技（長いこともある）を見せるのが定石である。