The Enola Gay: The Transformation of an Airplane into an Icon and the Ownership of History

The memory of the past is fading, even though the survivors shout that we must not forget. Even Peace Festivals in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have become a mere "empty routine," as Mr. Numata lamented in his Haiku poetry. While people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have tried to convey the message that we should not repeat the past, such a message may simply irritate some people in the world. What the Japanese government has done was not in accord with the effort for world peace as suggested by the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The planned exhibit featuring the Enola Gay, stirred the emotions of many Japanese. It also helped to reveal Japan's contradictory attitudes toward nuclear issues. At the time of the 50th anniversary of World War II, various opinions were exchanged over this controversy in Japan. The Smithsonian Institute did not expect the emotional reaction that it got from U.S. veterans' groups when it released the original exhibit plan of the Enola