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Japanese Music Stars To Play One Last Time At Tokyo's Old Olympic Stadium

With plans already underway for a newly revamped National Olympic Stadium, the old stadium—the main site for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games—is scheduled to be demolished in 2015.

To say farewell to the old stadium, a two-night "JAPAN NIGHT" concert event is being planned for May 28-29. The first night, "Yell for JAPAN," will feature FUNKY Kato (formerly from Funky Monkey Babys), YUZU (Hunter x Hunter), The Gospellers (Hyōka), Kaori Kishitani, UKASUKA-G (Sakurai Kazutoshi of Mr. Children & GAKU-MC), Naoto Inti Raymi, Ikimono-gakari (Naruto Shippūden, Bleach), and more. The night will also feature a special group comprised of Toyomu Tamada, Seiji Kameda, Hirokazu Ogura, Susumu Nishikawa, Makoto Mingawa, Yuta Saito, Kinbara Chieko, and led by Seiji Kameda (Naruto, InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood). The second night, "Japan to the World" will feature L'Arc-en-Ciel (Rurouni Kenshin, Fullmetal Alchemist), SEKAI NO OWARI, Perfume, and MAN WITH A MISSION.

Advance tickets will be available April 18 at noon JST from Lawson Ticket, with more pre-sale tickets available April 25 at 6PM JST from Ticket Pia, Lawson Ticket, e-Plus Ticket, and BARKS Ticket. General ticket sales begin May 11 at 10AM JST. Plans for international ticket sales will be announced this week.

JAPAN NIGHT marks L'Arc-en-Ciel's third appearance at the stadium; they played there for the second time last month. Paul McCartney will play at the stadium next month on May 17 and 18 as part of his "Out There! Tour."

Although some anime fans might associate the 2020 Tokyo Olympics stadium with Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Akira, the new National Stadium won't look anything like the one seen in the film. Designed by architect Zaha Hadid, the new stadium will seat 80,000 guests and feature a retractable roof. Hadid was the first woman and the first Muslim to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004; she also designed the Aquatics Centre for the 2012 London Olympics.

[Via AFA Channel; images from L'Arc-en-Ciel, Japan Night, Zaha Hadid Architects]