2025-09-182025-09-18http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11861/25564The Cold War, often perceived as a concluded historical chapter, continues to demand scholarly exploration of its enduring cultural legacies. While existing scholarship frames the mid-to-late 20th century through the ideological dichotomy of the US–UK-led capitalist bloc and the Soviet–China-aligned communist sphere (Christopher 2014; Davies 2022; Westad 2017), contemporary Japanese art history remains narrowly focused on post-war anticommunist narratives tied to Japan’s role in US containment strategies (Broinowski 2016; Kitazawa, Kuresawa, and Mitsuda 2023; Mikkonen, Scott-Smith, and Parkkinen 2019). This emphasis has overshadowed critical geopolitical intersections, particularly the influence of Asia-Pacific dynamics on Japan’s artistic evolution. Notably, avant-garde movements such as Gutai and Mono-ha dominate academic discourse, yet the politically charged Reportage painting movement of the 1950s, a socialist realist response to US militarization and Japan’s perceived subordination, reveals deeper transnational tensions warranting scrutiny (Carroll 2024).<br> Emerging in the early 1950s, Reportage painting combined the approachable aesthetics of socialist realism with pointed critiques of U.S. military influence and Japan’s contested sovereignty (Jesty 2018). The movement’s rise coincided with the Korean War (1950–1953), a pivotal conflict that saw China’s defiance of U.S.-led UN forces redefine East Asian power structures. Following the 1953 Panmunjom Truce—interpreted by many as a U.S. concession— Japanese intellectuals reassessed Cold War alliances, revitalizing socialist thought in public discourse (Kami 1996; Namiko 2017). Although scholars have analyzed Reportage’s role in domestic socio-political dissent (Merewether and Hiro 2007; Western 2004), its transnational aspects remain overlooked. These include its stylistic departure from Soviet and Chinese socialist realism, as well as its dialogue with Hong Kong, then a burgeoning hub of global exchange. Further study is needed to unravel how Japanese artists reinterpreted socialist aesthetics within their distinct ideological “field,” positioned at the intersection of capitalist and communist blocs.<br> Employing Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, this study analyses how reportage practitioners navigated political ideologies through institutional engagements, such as municipal bodies, arts funding systems, exhibitions, and media. It argues that reportage, rooted in Russian influences but catalyzed by the Korean War, reflects an organic evolution of Japan’s intellectual–artistic frameworks rather than a mere derivative of socialist theory. By situating the movement within broader Asia-Pacific Cold War geopolitics, including Hong Kong’s role in disseminating ideological currents, this research challenges reductive East–West binaries and illuminates Japan’s complex positioning as both a US ally and a site of socialist artistic innovation.<br>