Japan has signed an agreement to cooperate in protecting archaeological remains in Afghanistan's Bamyan Valley.

Under the agreement signed Saturday, Japanese experts will begin an underground survey of the area in October and train Afghans on restoring and preserving the archaeological remains.

Afghan Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makhdoom Rahim and Akiyoshi Watanabe, director general at the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Tokyo, attended the signing ceremony in the Afghan capital.

"There are many (unearthed) remains around the stone caves in Bamyan," Watanabe said. "If the survey finds them, the historical and cultural value of the remains in Bamyan will increase."

This summer, the Japanese institute found about 10 Buddhist scripture fragments written in Sanskrit from around the seventh century in the caves at Bamyan.