Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology contains both exhibition and conference rooms, where frequent events take place. In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the centre holds temporary ones—mostly relating to Japanese art, culture and technology. The centre also organises courses in tea brewing, Ikebana (the art of flower arrangement), and Japanese language.
The building of the museum is a contemporary structure that both complements and contrasts with the ancient art of Japan. In a 2006 architectural competition, the museum was chosen as one of the twenty most interesting examples of architecture in Poland built after 1989.
The whole building was designed by a celebrated Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki, who donated the design to the Kyoto-Kraków Foundation, founded by a famous director, Andrzej Wajda, to create Japanese museum in Krakow. The exterior features of this modern building (the roof that resembles the sea portrayed in many old Japanese paintings) echo both the museum’s surroundings and some of the art housed within. The garden next to the building is a gift of the City of Kyoto.
The Manggha museum was opened on November 30, 1994 on the initiative of a celebrated director, Andrzej Wajda, who became fascinated by Japanese culture in his youth, when he saw the exhibition organised by Germans in Krakow in 1944. The exhibition comprised of 6500 items that were not exhibited by the National Museum because of lack of space.
In 1920, Feliks Jasieński—critic, writer and collector of art, whose penname was “Manngha”—donated his collection of artworks connected with Japan to the National Museum in Krakow. After his death, the collection was not exhibited, one reason being the lack of space to arrange the 6500 items. The lone exception was an exhibition in Sukiennice in 1944 organised by the Germans, who occupied Poland at the time. A young Andrzej Wajda saw the exhibition and became fascinated by Japanese art. In 1987, almost half a century later, Wajda received a film award in Kyoto. He decided to donate the entire sum to the National Museum in Krakow to erect a brand new building in which to exhibit the entire Japanese collection. He was supported by local authorities, the City of Krakow, and the government of Japan, with special help from Ambassador Nagao Hyodo. The East Japan Railway Workers’ Union with president Akira Matsuzaki donated the equivalent of approximately $1million to the Kyoto-Kraków Foundation created by Andrzej Wajda and his friends.
On July 11, 2002, Manggha was visited by Emperor Akihito and his wife Michiko. On the request of the Emperor, an exhibition of selected woodcuts of the great Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige had been prepared. The Emperor and his wife donated some audiovisual equipment to the centre (for the school of Japanese language).