Kazuo Matsui latest in long line of NPB managers to take a kyuyo

TOKYO — I read with interest the recent news of Seibu Lions manager Kazuo Matsui announcing he had taken an “indefinite leave of absence” from the struggling club for ‘health reasons.’ A kyuyo, as it were.

He was not feeling well, it was reported, a condition perhaps brought about by the poor performance of the team. Or as Jim Allen described it in a recent column on the subject, it was “Go Gatsubyo” or “May sickness”— an expression used in Japan to describe the blues that one gets in the second month at a new school or after joining  a company (the new school and work year’s typically beginning in April in this country.)

Matsui, in his second season as Lions’ pilot was quoted as saying, “I feel the players are developing, but it’s my responsibility that we have not been able to turn that into wins,” said the 48-year-old Matsui, announcing his departure. Matsui played for the New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros between 2004 and 2010.