It's difficult to imagine it at present, but in a time when statues of the deceased were built to honor them (which is a Western custom) and many of statues were dressed up and majestic, the statue of Saigo was very ordinary, as his achievement was to serve country in the Meiji Restoration.
今日では想像しにくいが、銅像を造って故人を顕彰するという西洋伝来の新しい文化がようやく定着した時期であり、その多くが正装したり威厳に満ちたものであったのに対し、西郷の銅像は明治維新の元勲のものとしては、あまりに庶民的に過ぎるものである。