Afghan cultural assets must be restored

Yusaku Usanami, Asian Bureau, Bangkok, The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo

Helping war-torn Afghanistan get back on its feet after 23 years of fighting is a pressing issue.

Japan hosts an international conference for Afghan reconstruction from Monday in Tokyo. There are countless ways in which Japan can make a contribution in humanitarian aid, building of infrastructure such as roads, airports, hospitals and schools, education, agriculture and the removal of landmines.

In addition, I wish to propose the extension of aid to restore cultural assets, an area that has failed to attract international attention.

While the United Nations is eager about the establishment of a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan, it has yet to pay attention to the restoration of lost cultural assets. The same can be said of the United States, Europe and Afghan neighbors such as Iran, India and Russia.

Afghanistan had many cultural relics that could be referred to as part of the human race's common heritage. Japan should take the initiative in investigating the degree of destruction and devising restoration plans.

Cultural ties between Japan and Afghanistan date back more than 1,000 years. The giant statues of Buddha in Bamiyan, which were built between the third and sixth centuries and were razed last year by Taliban Islamic fundamentalists who ban idol worship, are believed to be the roots of the Great Buddha of the Todaiji temple in Nara.

Buddhism, which originated in India, spread to the Afghan region and mixed with Greek and Persian civilizations in the west. Buddhist culture, which is a mixture of Eastern and Western cultures, eventually reached Japan via the Silk Road, China and the Korean Peninsula.

The Tepe Sardar Buddhist remains at Ghazni, which were excavated by an Italian archaeological team, were destroyed by the Taliban last spring, but the extent of the damage is not known.

In addition to Buddhist remains, Afghanistan has Hindu and Islamic ruins and is a treasure trove of diverse cultural relics. The Kunduz and Balkh areas, which were bombed by U.S. forces, also have ancient Buddhist and Greek remains. Kandahar had the remains of an ancient city. What happened to these things? The condition of the Hadda ruins near Jalalabad, which had been destroyed by mujahidin guerrillas from the time of the Afghan war, and that of remaining stupas also need to be academically recorded.

The destruction and looting of relics in the Kabul Museum collection should also be looked into as soon as possible. New data can be compared with records kept by Japanese and French teams of archaeologists who studied the collection before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The process is more than simple restoration of tangible cultural assets. It is a process of reconfirming the Afghan people's ethnic identity and reinstating their historical heritage, which was about to be lost.

Japan, in particular, has many experienced specialists on Buddhist cultural studies and conservation. Besides making a contribution in the military area such as dispatching personnel to the International Security Assistance Force, Japan should take the initiative to positively preserve and restore cultural assets in a way no other country can.

This would not only win the appreciation of international society but also contribute to Afghan reconstruction in a uniquely Japanese way.