It was discovered by Japanese astronomers Yoshikane Mizuno and Toshimasa Furuta at Kani Observatory (403) on 8 October 1989.

[11] The carbonaceous C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 5.7 hours and measures approximately 14 kilometers (9 miles) in diameter.

[2] Kani is a non-family asteroid of the main belt's background population when applying the hierarchical clustering method to its proper orbital elements.

The lightcurves gave an identical rotation period of 5.7279±0.0001 hours and a brightness variation of 0.75 ± 0.02 in magnitude (U=3/3).

[9][a] Observations at the Palomar Transient Factory and revised shape-models have since confirmed the body's rotation period.