He joined the Penn faculty in January 2001 after working as a curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles since 1992. He specialized in modern Japanese history, immigration, U.S.-Japan relations, and the history of Asians in the United States. He holds a MA in Asian American Studies (1992) and a Ph.D. in history (2000), both from University of California at Los Angeles. Professor Azuma was recently awarded the Alan Charles Kors Term Chair as Associate Professor of History.