Born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1937. He worked not only in avant-garde art, but also in various fields such as manga, writing, and photography. After entering Musashino Art University in 1955, he exhibited his work at the Yomiuri Independents Exhibition for the first time in 1958 and formed the Neo-Dada Organizers in 1960 with Masunobu Yoshimura and others. In 1963, together with Jiro Takamatsu and Natsuyuki Nakanishi, he formed Hi-Red Center and presented Model 1000-Yen Note and packaging works like his “Mixer Plans,” as well as performances such as the “Movement for the Promotion for a Clean and Organized Metropolitan Area.” In 1964, he was indicted on charges that his Model 1000-Yen Note piece was illegal, and the 1,000-Yen Note Trial began, in which he was ultimately convicted. Akasegawa began ordering printed 1,000-yen notes around 1963, and created objet d’art and packaging works using printed 1,000-yen notes, which he exhibited at the Yomiuri Independents Exhibition. Akasegawa’s first Model 1000-Yen Note was an invitation for his solo exhibition “On the Ambivalent Sea” held at Shinjuku Daiichi Gallery in February 1963.

This work, Model 1000-Yen Note III, was produced in May 1963, and was mistakenly printed in green on kraft paper, although it was requested to be printed in black. There were about 300 sheets of paper with the equivalent of three 1,000 yen bills printed on each, and they had not been cut. These were then used as-is to package the objects. Through this work, Akasegawa revealed the true nature of money, that its value is ambiguous and based on trust, and that paper money is nothing more than printed paper.