Thomasson, what is that?

USATODAY said ex major baseball player Cecil Fielder is in hiding because of a huge debt. He played for the Hanshin Tigers(JP) in Japan, and got Homerun King in 1990 and 1991. Did you know that? Well the first Japanese player to make a certain result would be Nomo, not so long ago. However many major league players have played in Japan for a long time, and there were many big name athletes. For example Dave Johnson (Mets manager), Roy White (Yankees players) Bill Gullickson, etc. There were many foreign players who played in Japan Baseball team. But do you know a player who left his name a different way in Japan. A player left his name in not baseball results, but in a sort of culture.

In Japan, we have many sites and books reporting about "useless object conserved on the building". For example...The usless door. The useless stairs. The useless wash stand. The useless wall. Parking impossible. We call this type of stuff Thomason.. You may check "Thomason" here(JP), here(JP). Ah! Recently William Gibson make a Thomason researcher Mr.Yamazaki appears in his book "Virtual Light", I heard.

Then this Thomasson was named from Gary Thomason. He played in Dodgers in the U.S, and then joined the Tokyo Giants (JP) in 1982, he made a mountain of strikeouts, and people called him "a human windmill" in Japan. He had to leave Japan the next year without any result. Then someone named "useless stuff" -Thomason. ha ha But in a sense Thomason could leave his name on sub culture in Japan.

Comments

[Wolf]

William Gibson is one of my favorite authors. I've even met him. :)

ooops

thomasson!

[hi]

>> I tried to find some articles or photos of him in the U.S and Japan both, but I could only find this dead link.

His name is Thmoasson w/2 S's, idiot!

[robert]

sounds frustrating, but in the case of the stairs, perhaps the ceiling is imaginary. "Human windmill" is not a title I would be comfortable with, too many unsavory implications. It's a fascinating bit of trivia you've bestowed here Mari-san. I suppose if you can't make your mark one way, the lesson seems to be, make it however you are able. Japan may still be using "Thomason" long after the man himself is obscure dust. An odd legacy, and the fact that Gibson (that lucky, loveable freak) has immortalized it, wow I think that would almost be worth wearing the windmill title. I think it is worth mentioning that William Gibson has had his share of influence on the Japanese culture. I almost wonder if he, himself is not responsible for the Thomason syndrome? ;) I wonder perhaps if these "useless" objects are testament to our unwillingness to accept life on its own terms, or perhaps lifes propensity for being different than we imagine? :)

[Charles]

Very funny, I especially like the useless concrete stairs. The famous postmodernist architect Robert Venturi liked to design useless features into his homes, like stairs that went up to a ceiling and stopped, doors that don't open built into a wall, etc. He was widely criticised for making unfunctional houses, but he said these were architectural ornaments designed to give more character to a home. I personally liked the pictures of the homes, but I don't know what it would be like to live in a Venturi-designed home.