Michael Cash <mikecash@sunfield.ne.jp> wrote in message 
> >OK, I think I can understand how the *sen* of *yamanotesen* can end up
> >written as two characters, but how did he manage to split the *hama* of
> >*hamamatsucho*?

And the kanji for "mise" (I'm posting from Google so I don't think I
can write it)  "rather playfully depicts a long-nosed clerk standing
behind a counter under a shed".

[]s
Rafael