October 2, 2025
WASHINGTON, DC.- The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has named Naoko Adachi its Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art. Adachi, who started in July, is the fourth curator to work at the National Museum of Asian Art under the Japan Foundation program, the largest Japan-centered program in the United States. With three curators, two painting conservators and one curatorial assistant, the program focuses on Japanese arts and culture and stewards the museum’s collection of over 15,000 Japanese objects. Sponsorship of this position began in 2017 following a pledge by former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.
In this role, Adachi collaborates in the stewardship of the museum’s significant collection of Japanese pre-modern, modern and contemporary prints, photographs and books. As an emerging scholar in the field of Japanese art, Adachi works with the museum’s curatorial department on Japan-related scholarly research, exhibition development and presentation, and dynamic programming that engages both academic and public audiences.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Adachi to the National Museum of Asian Art, where her expertise in Japanese prints and photographs will add immeasurably to our understanding of the museum’s deep holdings,” said Chase F. Robinson, the director of the museum. “The Japan Foundation’s transformative investment in a new generation of curators brings fresh talent, creativity and ideas to our museum and the field at large.”
“The National Museum of Asian Art has long been a pioneering institution in the research and exhibition of Japanese art,” Adachi said. “I am honored to join the team and look forward to building on this legacy through my work with its exceptional collection.”
Adachi specializes in modern Japanese art, specifically photography and craft in the Meiji era. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation, “Constructing Authenticity: Images of Japan in Photograph Albums, 1862–1901,” considered Japanese identity in the late 19th century through tourist photographic albums. Previously, Adachi was at the Tokyo National Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, and she has done extensive work on the Tress collection of Japanese illustrated books at the University of Pennsylvania.