When a sign reading ¡°¡®Freedom¡¯ under restoration appeared in Ueno Station last year, it struck a chord online, drawing millions of views. The phrase¡¯s layered meaning helped propel its spread, but it also drew renewed attention to an easily overlooked postwar mural that has watched over the station for more than 70 years.?
¡°Freedom¡± is a nearly 27-meter-long, 5-meter-high pentagonal wall painting above the station¡¯s Central Gate, known as the ¡°Doorway to the North¡± for its trains bound for the Tohoku, Hokuriku and Joetsu regions. It was created in 1951 by Genichiro Inokuma (1902-93), an internationally trained former war painter, during a turbulent time when Japan was finding its postwar footing.?
After World War II, Ueno Station served as a thoroughfare for returning soldiers ¡ª many injured or disabled ¡ª and as a shelter for people made homeless by the war. In a bid to brighten the station¡¯s image and instill a sense of hope in a defeated nation, the artwork was installed at the suggestion of Toshio Kobayashi, director of the advertising firm Senkosha. Today, it is one of the few of Inokuma¡¯s murals that remain in their original locations.
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