[3][7]: 23 It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.2 AU once every 5 years and 2 months (1,891 days).
[6] According to the survey carried out by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, Hagihara measures 12.3 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.135, which is neither typical for stony nor for carbonaceous bodies.
[1][4] As of 2017, the asteroid's composition and spectral type, as well as its rotation period and shape remain unknown.
He also served as vice-president of the International Astronomical Union and was the president of its Commission VII.
Hagihara is best known for the discussion of stability problems in celestial mechanics and his theory of libratory motions, as well as for important contributions to the study of the velocity distribution of free electrons in planetary nebulae, and his important five-volume treatise on celestial mechanics.