Domon, who began his career in the 1930s contributing photo reportages to magazines that supported the increasingly militaristic Japanese state and its imperial policies, later criticized propaganda photography.

As photojournalists grappled with how to depict the new social reality of the post-WWII period, Domon forged the realistic photography movement (Riarizumu Shashin Undō).

[4]: 182  In 1932, Domon was expelled from Nihon University for his involvement as a secretary at the Agricultural Workers' League (Nōmin kumiai), associated with the Japanese Communist Party.

The exhibition Film und Foto, first held in 1929 in Stuttgart, subsequently traveling to Tokyo and Osaka in 1931, was equally instrumental in energizing Japanese photographers.

[3]: 28  Additionally, the newly-available Leica, a small and affordable camera, allowed amateurs to begin taking photographs, which encouraged the development of new photography groups.

[7]: 23  From 1934 until the end of the Asia Pacific War, the agency published NIPPON, a photo magazine targeted at foreigners to promote Japanese culture abroad.

[8]: 751  Art historian Gennifer Weisenfeld notes that as such "it served as a quasi-governmental organ of national propaganda", receiving support from several state agencies.

[4]: 33  In 1939, Domon left Nippon Kōbō after being recruited to work for the Agency for International Cultural Relations (Kokusai Bunka Shinkōkai, "KBS"), a national propaganda organization.

Curator Mari Shirayama posits that Natori played a role in instigating his recruitment, understanding that he could no longer collaborate professionally with Domon.

[7]: 24  At the KBS, Domon notably contributed to a series of large photography panels that promoted Japan at the International Exhibition at the World's Fair in San Francisco.

[3]: 29  During this time, Domon also played a central role in the Japanese Society of Reportage Photographers (Nippon Hōdō Shashin-ka Kyōkai).

[3]: 29 Withdrawing temporarily from the tense wartime climate, Domon visited the remote Buddhist temple Murō-ji in Nara Prefecture in 1939, accompanied by his friend and art historian Sumio Mizusawa.

Domon's other significant wartime endeavor was a series on bunraku, a traditional form of Japanese puppet theater, which he began in 1941.

[6]: 112 By employing the term "realism", Domon built upon the first major debate in the Japanese art world during the post-war period.

Art historian Yuri Mitsuda importantly notes that "the realism debate was so divisive because it was not simply a matter of different formalistic preferences.

As Yoshiaki Kai aptly summarizes, "Domon's commentary on Riarizumu Photography gave the impression to the photographic community at that time that he was offering no more than an arbitrary definition of the word, and, even worse, taking advantage of this vaguely defined term to justify his own work and criticize that of others.

"[6]: 120  Kai suggests that Domon's discourse was perhaps intentionally broad and vague as the artist continued to practice staged photography, like his well-known Portrait (Fūbo) series, depicting famous figures in literature, art, and cinema.

[6]: 121 While Domon's discourse on realism could be occasionally unclear, his striking photographs powerfully and competently communicated the difficulties of daily life after the war.

Among Domon's most powerful images are those of the survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the life, in particular the children, of a poor coal-mining community in Chikuhō.

Photography historian Frank Feltens states that the publication does not deal with the scars of Hiroshima objectively, "but in a highly emotional manner".

[13]: 66  Domon's foreward points to his compatriots' lack of interest for the victims, and he reminds the reader that the atomic bombings could have befallen any Japanese city.

A 1952 article in Asahi Graphic magazine, which included photos of the disaster, revealed for the first time to much of the Japanese public the extent of the bombs' aftermath.

[14] Despite the initial shock generated after its publication, Hiroshima received critical acclaim and remains a highly appreciated work of art for its humanist vision.

While the images were originally intended to be printed in the periodical Camera Mainichi, Domon felt that this format did not suit the material.

An exhibition curated by Rossella Menegazzo, presented in Rome in 2017 and in Paris in 2023, has permitted the European public to discover Domon's oeuvre.