This print is the second in the Kabuki Jûhachiban (歌舞伎十八番, "The Eighteen Great Kabuki Plays") series of prints by the artist Kiyotada (also known as Tadakiyo). It depicts actor Ichikawa Danjûrô IX as Soga Gorô Tokimune in the short kabuki play Yanone ("Sharpening the Arrow"). Yanone was originally staged in 1729 at the Nakamura Theatre and starred Ichikawa Danjûrô II. For more information on the play, see this description.

Prints in which characters "look" at the viewer face-on are quite rare, and Kiyotada's choice to depict the actor in this way helps to make the work more startling and almost frightening. The actor's fierce kumadori makeup makes the print all the more eye-catching. As with all of the prints in this series, the detailed karazuri blind-embossing in the background is also a highlight.