歌舞伎『義経千本桜』に取材した作品です。
早見藤太は、半道または半道敵（はんどうがたき）と呼ばれる三枚目の敵役です。画面左手には藤太の家来が描かれ、四天（よてん）という、武装していることを示す裾の割れた衣裳を身につけています。「鳥居前」の場で、藤太は静御前を無理に捕えようとしますが、そこへ駆けつけた義経の忠臣、佐藤忠信（実は忠信の姿に化けた狐）に蹴散らされてしまいます。また、「吉野山」の場で、静と忠信が二人で踊るところに現れた藤太を忠信が追い払うという演出もあります。
清方は、藤太の派手ないでたちや立ち姿、表情で、役が持つ滑稽味を表しました。

Hayami no Tōta (The Comical Enemy) (1934)
color on paper; framed
41.9 x 62.7 cm
(First exhibited at Kaburaki Kiyokata Koten[Solo Exhibition] Shibai-e )

This depiction is a scene from the Kabuki play Yoshitsune Senbonzakura.
Characters such as Hayami no Tōta with both villainous and comical elements are referred to as handō or handōgataki. Tōta’s retainers, pictured on the left, are wearing yoten costumes, which are only used in scenes with rapid action. The slit at each side of the garment indicates that the wearer is armed with weapons. In the Torii Mae scene, Tōta is about to take Shizuka Gozen away by force when Satō Tadanobu, Yoshitsune’s faithful retainer, rushes onto the scene and scatters Tōta’s men. (In actual fact, it is a fox disguised as Tadanobu.) In some productions, Tadanobu chases Tōta away when he turns up in the Yoshinoyama scene where Shizuka and Tadanobu are performing a dance together.
Kiyokata has expressed the comical nature of the role in Tōta’s expression, standing posture, and flashy clothes.