Named for the beautiful village in which Yatsugatake {see planet (4033)} South Base Observatory is located. The name means “great spring”. The village, surrounded by forest and located at the southern end of the Yatsugatake-renpo mountain range in central Japan, has many springs, the greatest of which produces 7 million liters of pure water per day. (M 17657) _ _.
Discovered on 21-1-1990 in Yatsugatake by Kushida, Y., Muramatsu, O.