A Hiroshima remembrance in downtown Columbia

A string quartet from the South Carolina Philharmonic, conducted by director Morihiko Nakahara, set the tone Thursday during a remembrance vigil on the 70th anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Imperial Japan.

The city of Hiroshima was bombed Aug. 6, 1945, killing 140,000 people. The second bomb fell on Nagasaki three days later, killing 70,000. The bombing hastened the end of World War II.

Organizers hoped the vigil at the Columbia Museum of Art would convey a message of peace and hope that such devastation will not occur again. Members and friends of the Carolina Peace Resource Center and the Columbia Friends Meeting (Quakers) coordinated the event, which was part of downtown Columbia’s First Thursday on Main events.