Named in honor of Syoji Kuwabara (b. 1927). A retired school teacher in Japan, he was superintendent of the board of education in Himeji City (1981-1993) and director of the city's Science Museum (1993-1996). An amateur astronomer, he was once an enthusiastic observer of occultations; now he studies local names and legends of stars and asterisms. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by T. Sato, A. Fujii and K. Kitao.