Unknown kana in a late C19th address cartouche


Given their visual form, I am uncertain about two kana (the 5th and 6th
characters) in a late C19th cartouche. It names an artist's address: _Asakusa-
ku [... ...]suji chō gojūhachi banchi / gakō / Nishimura Tōtarō_. The
characters appear to be 浅クサ区[... ...]スジ丁五十八バンチ 画工 西村藤太郎, i.e., if I'm
correct... “Asakusa ward [... ...], house number 58: Painter/Artist: Nishimura
Tōtarō.”

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/i5NYk.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/i5NYk.png)

The second character 'ku' in _Asakusa_ is consistent with the 'ku' from a kana
chart found in Engelbert Kaempfer's "The History of Japan," written 1690-92,
first published in London, 1727. See scans from the book below... it's
interesting how the katakana were historically written, especially the 'ta'
and 'ku'... and the 'ne'... and the hiragana 'to'. I can't find any good
online references that show a spectrum of katakana forms in 'gyōsho', assuming
you can apply that term to katakana. There is a kuzushikana.pdf file for
hiragana at <http://naruhodo.weebly.com/blog/introduction-to-kuzushiji>, but I
can't find anything comparable for variations in katakana.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SohGp.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SohGp.png)
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fCyDU.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fCyDU.png)
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sADLL.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sADLL.png)
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vX9X5.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vX9X5.png)




The character immediately below 「浅クサ区」 is **_not_** a kana. It is the
崩{くず}し字{じ} ("cursive style") for the kanji 「北」.

Thus, the name of the section is 「北ミスジ丁」（北三筋丁in kanji）.

<https://kakijun.jp/page/0524200.html>




The character immediately below 「浅クサ区」 is **_not_** a kana. It is the
崩{くず}し字{じ} ("cursive style") for the kanji 「北」.

Thus, the name of the section is 「北ミスジ丁」（北三筋丁in kanji）.

<https://kakijun.jp/page/0524200.html>

