This museum is the brainchild of the late Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, who donated the Kyoto Prize money he received in 1987 to fund a permanent home for the National Museum's extensive collection of Japanese art, ceramics and scrolls. The bulk of the collection is made up of pieces assembled by Feliks Jasieński (1861–1929), an avid traveller and essayist, known as 'Manggha'.