Named in honor of Bunichi Saito (b. 1925), professor emeritus at Niigata University and an expert on the earth's upper atmosphere, particularly the airglow. He is also an authority on the poet and novelist Kenji Miyazawa and currently directs the museum at the Kenji Miyazawa Iihatobu Center. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by A. Fujii and Y. Yoneda.