comments:
In Japan, this is called a "Thomasson," meaning an architectural or design feature that is carefully maintained, despite being completely useless. It's named after baseball player Gary Thomasson, who played with the Yomiuri Giants, and spent his career with them collecting a paycheck despite never hitting the ball. The term was devised by artist Genpei Akasegawa, who wrote a book about it, Hyperart: Thomasson. The Gary Thomasson story was adapted into the Tom Selleck film Mr. Baseball. https://www.amazon.com/Hyperart-Thomasson-Genpei-Akasegawa/dp/1885030789/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38YJFRQMY18TR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KJGYjV_fOGRs06o8AovLbYHPRSW4xbCv5anLOU0S35jF6NDB-KK2l3jgiFJnod0TSm5l_0RtR32d5_JqecRYkg.cUwaxnigIDw-G8cVsEIvF3go3b5Uu2Gz0B5nzqyD6L8&dib_tag=se&keywords=hyperart+thomasson&qid=1782613549&sprefix=hyperart%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1