. >> reporter: kazeya yammauchi has spent decades working to protect ancient artifacts including theuddhist monuments at bamiyan in afghanistan. yamauchi said sites around the world are facing threats from natural disasters. but he says destruction caused by people is having a different impact. >> translator: the destruction by human hands made the incident so shocking. the footage showing the buddha statues being damaged indeed shocked the world, including us here in japan. >> reporter: yamauchi and his team travel around the world, conserving sites. he said he and other experts need to learn more about why the artifacts are being targeted. yamauchi said the bamiyan attacks and the recent ones in iraq and syria seem to have similar motives. >> translator: maybe they chose to destroy the buddha statues in bamiyan as a symbol of their act to delete past culture, history, and memories. actually, in iraq after the war libraries and archives were burnt down. some intellectuals were assassinated. this is not widely known, but it happened. the recent attacks in syria and iraq may also be p