明治31年（1898）1月から翌年3月まで『読売新聞』紙上に連載された尾崎紅葉作『金色夜叉』は、その後、脚色され新派などでたびたび上演されました。本作は本郷座で上演された新派の興行用絵看板として描かれました。熱海の海岸で間貫一が鴫沢宮の不貞をなじる有名な場面を取り上げ、原作の情感を余すところなく伝えています。明治35年（1902）の第3回烏合会展に清方は『金色夜叉』のお宮入水の場面を描いた作品も描いており、この作品は一時、尾崎紅葉が所蔵し、明治35年春陽堂発行の『金色夜叉』続編の口絵にも使われました。本作以外にも本郷座の絵看板として描いた《深沙大王》（明治37年）や《不如帰》（明治38年（1905）・豊川閣妙厳寺蔵）があります。

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Pictorial Billboard for the Play Konjiki-Yasha by Ozaki Kōyō (ca.1905)
color on silk; hanging scroll
143.6 x 81.0 cm

Written by Ozaki Kōyō, Konjiki-Yasha was serialized in the Yomiuri Newspaper from January to March 1897. The story was later dramatized and frequently performed in various versions including new school drama (shinpa). This work was produced as a pictorial billboard for a new school drama performed at the Hongo-za Theater. Fully expressing the emotions of the story, the painting depicts a famous scene on the seashore at Atami, where Hazama Kan’ichi rebukes Shigizawa Miya (Omiya) for her infidelity. Kiyokata also produced a painting of another scene from Konjiki-Yasha—the one where Omiya commits suicide—for the third Ugōkai exhibition in 1902. This second painting was temporarily owned by Ozaki Kōyō. It was also used as the kuchi-e (frontispiece) for the sequel to Konjiki-Yasha published by Shunyōdō in 1902. Other works featured on pictorial billboards for the Hongo-za Theater include Scene from the Play Shinja-Daiō by Izumi Kyōka (1904) and Hototogisu (1905, Myōgonji temple, Toyokawa).