Named for a small town in northern Hokkaido, on the sea of Okhotsk {see planets  (3720) and  (4042), respectively}, not far from the home of the second discoverer. Known as “The Town of the Solar Eclipse”, it was visited by astronomers from all over the world during the total solar eclipses of 1896 Aug. 9 and 1936 June 19. After the former eclipse the American astronomer David P. Todd gave many books to the town, and these became the nucleus of the first public library to be established in Hokkaido. (M 34353) _ _.