History and Culture of the World Heritage Site of Bamiyan
: Description of its Past, Present and Future

Dr. Kosaku Maeda
Professor Emeritus at Wako University, Japan

November 2^nd, 2013

MWU held a lecture titled “History and Culture of the World Heritage Site of Bamiyan―Description of its Past, Present and Future” inviting Professor Emeritus Kosaku Maeda of Wako University as a lecturer.

Prof. Maeda first gave a brief history since the foundation of Afghanistan from the period of principality, republic, Soviet invasion and withdrawal, Taliban rule and vandalism (destruction of Great Buddha) to the end of war and postwar. And we could recognize the importance of Japan’s efforts being made in cooperation with UNESCO to restore the culture of Afghanistan. Prof. Maeda also introduced the ancient history of Afghanistan as cultural crossroads, which was influenced by the cultures of Greece, Persia and other neighboring countries showing a lot of pictures of excavations. Then, Prof. Maeda, based on the precious materials, commented on the caves, murals and Buddhist statues of Bamiyan including their conditions before and after the Taliban-led vandalism, which he has been studying over half a century. It was a valuable opportunity to understand how important it is for Japan to take the initiative in the cooperative effort to revitalize the culture of Afghanistan hereafter.