One of the two Bamiyan Buddhas
in 1972
The Taliban threaten to destroy
the two statues, and despite
the serious request of many
nations, including Japan,
the statues were destroyed
in 2001
Although Ayaka san was too young at the time to know
much of what happened, millions around the world were
shocked- read more here:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamiyan