Tachibana is asteroid #5141 and also known as 1990 YB. tachibana was discovered by the Japanese astronomer Seki Tsutomu (関 勉) at Geisei (芸西) Village, Aki (安芸) District, Kōchi (高知) Prefecture, Japan. Seki Tsutomu (関 勉) is the director of the observatory there. Tachibana’s orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.87 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.06, a period of revolution of 1 779 days, and an inclination of 2.8 degrees. Tachibana belongs to the Karin-asteroid-cluster or asteroid-subfamily Karin, that itself is part of the asteroid-family Koronis.

Tachibana is named after a kendō (剣道) club. I did see the name Tachibana (たちばな) in the background in an episode of Sailor Moon. But this doesn’t have to say much. Tachibana is the name of several places, famous people, and miscellaneous things. Searching for Tachibana and kendō (剣道) together brings results, where Tachibana is spelled with hiragana (平仮名) only. This allows a wide variety of the meaning of the name. Most likely is tachibana (橘), that is the Japanese name of a very bitter subspecies of the Mandarin Orange. This subspecies also is called inedible citrus (although it is edible if you’re about to starve) and its scientific name is Citrus tachibana or Citrus reticulata tachibana. These fruits grow wild in the forests of Japan, in Taiwan, and in Korea. The tachibana (橘) is right after the cherry tree the second-most popular plant for naming things after in Japan. Kendō (剣道) clubs could prefer the name tachibana (橘) because of its possible homonyms. Tachi (立ち) means standing, while tachi (大刀) means long sword. Then ~bana is by sandhi derived from hana, which could be hana (纏頭) denoting twigs and leaves sacrificed to Buddha or hana (花) meaning flowers or blossoms or beauty or hana (端) with the meaning beginning or several other possibilities, which are less likely.

Miyagi, Funakoshi and Matsumura aren’t named after the famous karateka (空手家) and Kimura isn’t named after the famous jūdōka (柔道家). So I’m glad to present at least one asteroid, that has a budō (武道) theme. Although the discoverer of the asteroid had certainly only thought of his kendō (剣道) club and hence at a budō (武道) theme, the striking point about this name is that it is a play with homonyms. This shouldn’t be ignored. Tachibana hence belongs to the asteroid with playful names. Other asteroids of this type derive their names from their asteroid numbers, but this one makes use of the circumstance that its name is a Japanese name. So Tachibana should mainly indicate spreading confusion by the use of words or unclear names. Tachibana also represents the plant and the fruit Citrus reticulata tachibana as well as all things named after it.