The Manggha Museum on the Vistula riverbank below Wawel holds a collection of Japanese and Asian art that feels surprising in a Polish city — until you learn its origin. The collection was assembled in the late 19th century by Feliks Jasieński, a Polish art critic and collector who became one of the first Europeans to seriously engage with Japanese art, inspired by the ukiyo-e prints that were transforming French painting at the same time. Jasieński's pen name was "Manggha," taken from a Hokusai series.
The collection of over 6,500 objects — woodblock prints, lacquerware, ceramics, metalwork, samurai armour, and textiles — is one of the most important Japanese art collections in Central Europe. The museum building itself was designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki in 1994 and stands as a good piece of contemporary architecture in its own right, its curved roof suggesting a breaking wave. The permanent collection is on the upper floor; temporary exhibitions downstairs bring in additional Asian art from other collections. The museum has a good cafe with views over the Vistula.