This work depicts a soba (buckwheat noodle) stand in front of the Ichimuraza Theater, which is one of the three officially recognized Kabuki theaters of Edo. "Nihachi" (literally 'two-eight') came from the noodles that cost sixteen (two times eight) mon a bowl and also from the proportion of 20 parts udon flour to 80 parts soba flour.

Ōedo Shibai Nenjū Gyōji painted by Adachi Ginkō is a set of 26 pictures that depicts the manners and customs relating to plays/theaters in Saruwaka-chō (near Asakusa 6-chōme in Taitō ward), which used to be a theater town. The title of picture "fūbun kiki" refers to the person who informs the entrepreneurs of what was talked about amongst the audience in front of the theater about the play they had just watched. The entrepreneurs often changed the story of a play based on the reviews of the audience.
This picture depicts a man who holds a bowl in front of the Nihachi soba stand. He was eating something like kake-soba (buckwheat noodles in hot broth). The eating style of soba that is put in a bowl of hot broth as shown in the picture started in the mid-Edo period.