Named in honor of Shigeru Nakano (b. 1918), doctor of medicine specializing in obstetrics and gynecology and in medical jurisprudence. An amateur astronomer, he has published many observational guidebooks and star atlases, including the most detailed one in Japan. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by A. Fujii and T. Sato.
Discovered on 13-11-1988 in Kitami by Yanai, M., Watanabe, K.