Fodor's Expert Review Manggha: Centrum Sztuki i Techniki Japońskiej

The "Manggha" Center for Japanese Art and Technology houses a magnificent collection of woodblock prints, pottery, Samurai armor, netsuke (small sculptures worn on the sash of a kimono), and more. The collection was the gift of an eccentric bohemian named Feliks Jasieński, who became caught up in the fashion of collection Japanese artifacts in fin de siècle Paris. Jasieński's admiration and obsession with all things Japanese earned him the nickname "Manggha." Manggha are picture books containing famous prints of old Japan (not exactly the same as today's manga, which are popular graphic novels). Jasieński actually donated the collection to the Kraków National Museum in 1920, but there was no space to properly display it. The present museum opened in late 1994, in a building designed by the renowned Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki.