Tsutomu Seki is the Director of the
Geisei Observatory in Kōchi, and in charge of the Comet Section of the Oriental Astronomical Association. Between 1961 and 1970, he had visually discovered six
comets, including
C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki), the well known
great comet of 1965. He has also discovered a large number of
asteroids such as
13553 Masaakikoyama and
5209 Oloosson, a near-Earth
Amor asteroid and a
Jupiter trojan, respectively. Many of his discoveries are named after famous sites in Kōchi, such as Harimaya-bashi, Ryōma (after
Sakamoto Ryōma), Katsurahama beach, and
Kagami-gawa. == Awards and honors ==