'Are you sure that isn't an April Fool's?' someone in the Time Out office asked when we reported last Friday that Jane Birkin was planning to stage a charity gig in Tokyo. Apparently not: the lady formerly known as Madame Gainsbourg will be presiding over an impressive cast of Japanese musicians and artists at a free concert at Club Quattro, which aims to raise a stinkload of money for the charity Medecins du Monde. As of noon on Tuesday, the following guests have been announced: violinist Aska Kaneko, vocalist Ikuko Harada, guitarist Tsutomu Kurihara, trumpeter Shuichiro Sakaguchi, multi-instrumentalist Ren Takaga, pianists Nobuyuki Nakajima and Takuma Watanabe, keyboardist Tatsumi Moritoki, DJ Toshio Matsuura, tabla player U-Zhaan, sitar master Daikiti Yoshida, plus dancer Ikuyo Kuroda and actresses Mayu Tsuruta and Shinobu Terajima.
If you'd like to go, send an email to janebjapan@gmail.com by 4pm on April 5, stating: 1. your name; 2. age; 3. gender; 4. which prefecture you live in; 5. whether or not you're bringing a guest (one person only, and make sure to include their name); 6. whether or not you'd like to be signed up to the Jane Birkin mailing list. If you get in, you'll be sent a confirmation email around 8pm. If not, don't despair: they'll also be broadcasting the show on Ustream.