Hokutosei is asteroid #5374 and also known as 1989 AM1. Hokutosei was discovered by the Japanese astronomers Yanai Masayuki (箭内 政之) and Watanabe Kazurō (渡辺 和郎) at the Kitami Observatory. Hokutosei’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 3.17 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.10, a period of revolution of 2 068 days, and an inclination of 12.3 degrees.

Hokutosei is named after a sleeper train, which ran between Ueno (上野) Station in Tōkyō (東京) Prefecture and Sapporo (札幌) Station in Sapporo (札幌) City from 1988 until 2015. A second train with name Cassiopeia supplemented the railway line since 1999. The trains went less often already since 2008. These trains are no longer operating and passengers on their route take the Hokkaidō-Shinkansen (北海道新幹線) instead. A Hokutosei hostel in Tōkyō (東京) opened in 2016 and uses parts of the original Hokutosei train.

Both trains on the route were named after astronomical constellations. Hokutosei (北斗星) is the Japanese name of Ursa major. Hokutosei (北斗星) is now also the Japanese name of the asteroid #5374. The train did show the constellation Ursa major on a logo at the front of the locomotive. The train needed sixteen and half an hour for the route. I wonder how much this would be in relation to the rotation time of the asteroid, but the asteroid’s rotation time seems to be unknown.

Hokutosei (北斗星) would literally have to be translated as the northern dipper stars. Hokutosei (北斗星) isn’t simply a different word for the constellation Ursa major, but the Japanese name of a constellation made up by ancient Chinese astronomers. This constellation is only coincidentally the same as the western constellation Ursa major.

Roman and Latin are the standard for names of celestial objects, especially those relevant in astrology. So astrologers using fixed stars should prefer the constellations of the occidental tradition. Hokutosei could indicate by its position that the oriental tradition should be preferred in certain cases. But the main theme of Hokutosei should be railways. Simply because I don’t know yet any other celestial object named after a train or a railway. Some autistic people are obsessed with railways, just like perfectly depicted in the case of Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Hokutosei is the best candidate to describe such a railway obsession by a prominent position in a natal chart.