Yamatano-orochi is a giant snake appearing in Japanese ancient mythology. The snake had eight heads and eight tails and was long enough to cover eight valleys and eight peaks. It was defeated by the god Susanoo-no-mikoto {see planet (10604)}. (M 39657) _ _.
Discovered on 6-12-1996 in Nachi-Katsuura by Shimizu, Y., Urata, T.