William Marotti's book examines Akasegawa Genpei's 1960s 1,000-Yen Note Incident and Japan's political-artistic crisis

In 1963, Akasegawa Genpei, a Japanese artist, sent out 300 realistic prints of ¥1,000 notes as invitations for his solo exhibition, intending to highlight the concept of money as a social construct. This act resulted in his indictment in 1965 and subsequent conviction in 1967 for 'imitating money,' with his appeal to the Supreme Court denied in 1971. William Marotti's book examines this event alongside other radical actions, delving into Japan's cultural politics after the 1960 US-Japan Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty (ANPO). Marotti posits that artists like Akasegawa aimed to challenge societal norms through direct actions. Released in May 2013, the book presents a thematic perspective on postwar Japanese art history, differing from conventional approaches.