It was discovered on 2 December 1996, by Japanese amateur astronomer Takao Kobayashi at his Ōizumi Observatory.
[2] Kumotori has been characterized as a rare L-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS' survey.
[3] In April 2012, a rotational lightcurve of Kumotori was obtained from photometric observations in the R-band by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in California.
Lightcurve analysis gave a rotation period of 4.634 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.33 magnitude (U=2).
[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 9 November 2003 (M.P.C.