A man named Kazu was born in Fukushima, Japan in 1933, the same year as Akihito, the former Emperor of Japan who abdicated in 2019. Unlike the emperor, with whom he shares a number of things with, however, Kazu is now dead. He is living as a ghost in and around the eponymous Ueno Station area, where he also lived at when he was alive.
Born to a family that had eight children, Kazu's formative years were doing World War II. Because of his childhood, Kazu was used to living with less; he never wanted his family to experience living with less. Thus, he pours his effort into work and neglects his wife and children. In fact, Kazu only has one distinct memory of spending time with his wife and child: during a festival that occurred in the town they lived in.
Eventually, Kazu doesn't have many job opportunities and travels to Tokyo in 1963 (without his wife and child) to help to prepare the city for the 1964 Olympics. Kazu only returns to see his family on holidays, much to their chagrin. One day, Kazu sees the emperor and becomes deeply depressed. The novel ends with Kazu jumping in front of a train, thus ending his own life and setting up his ghost story.
Fundamentally, Tokyo Ueno Station is a novel about the downtrodden, depressed, and those without a voice. Kazu never really had a voice in his life; what little voice Kazu had was channeled into his work. The novel is also about regret, nostalgia, and reconsidering the past. When he was alive, Kazu had every opportunity to change his behavior and be with his family more. However, it was only after he died that he realized how important his family, and other people around him, were.
Finally, Tokyo Ueno Station is a ghost story. In the novel, readers are shown how Kazu, who is now a ghost, haunts his old stomping grounds. Traditionally, ghost stories have been tales about morality, and the ghost story in Tokyo Ueno Station is no different.
