Named in honor of Seiji Kimura (b. 1932), an amateur astronomer who first suggested sending a solar eclipse expedition to the U.S.S.R. in 1968. Since then he has organized several overseas expeditions to observe total solar eclipses. Secretary of the committee of the Japan Amateur Astronomers' Convention for over 14 years, Kimura established the Herschel Society of Japan in 1984 and has been editing bimonthly newsletters promoting knowledge of the Herschels and keeping contact with the William Herschel Society in the U.K. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by S. Morikubo.