How to understand the last character 枚 in 福田熊治良枚 In the context of a C19th print of the actor Iwai Hanshirō, the publisher’s name and address is included: . How should the last character that comes after _Hasegawachō jūku banchi Fukuda Kumajirō_ be understood and read? The references I have for , _mai_ , are “counter for flat objects (e.g. sheets of paper),” or _bira_ , “bill, handbill, flier, leaflet, poster, placard.” Why is it placed directly after the name of the publisher Fukuda Kumajirō? I often see _shuppanjin_ (), where the suffix _jin_ (, ) attaches to the name of the occupation, and there is also _hanmoto_ (). * * * Edit (after Naruto's request to include an image): ![enter image description here]( The characters in the cartouche were not all equally clear. I have increased the contrast in Photoshop. Yes, the character is , not .

The kanji is , not . It says:

> = designed by
> **** = printed/published by

means "board" in modern Japanese, but was used like modern ("print" or "publish") in the past. As for the reading, I'm not sure, but and seem equally reasonable to me in this context.