Liquid crystal alignment on ion-beam-treated polyimides with a long alkyl side chain was investigated using near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The long alkyl side chains and the asymmetric distribution and orientational order of the pi-bonds of the polyimide surface can be determined by analyzing the angular dependent resonance intensities of the NEXAFS measurements. Herein, we demonstrate that the pretilt angle of the LC cell made by our method decreases as more long alkyl side chains are destroyed. Additionally, the tilt direction of the LC molecules can be determined from the asymmetric distribution of pi-bonds of the polyimide created by the ion beam irradiation.