Exotic and tropical are words that are overused in the descriptions of music from foreign cultures -- they are more appropriate for tourist brochures. However, with musicians set to tour Japan from Hawaii, Bali and Congo, those descriptions are actually fairly fitting, and should provide the perfect soundtrack for the summer.

Hapa has been one of Hawaii's major musical exports since the band's 1993 debut album swept the following year's Hoku awards, the Hawaiian equivalent of the Grammys. Hapa, meaning "half-half" or "ethnically mixed," consists of New Yorker Irish American Barry Flannagan and native Hawaiian Keli'i Ho'omalu Kaneali'i.

Flannagan traveled to Hawaii in 1980 in search of music, having been entranced by the power of the late, great slack key guitar player Gabby Pahuinui. A planned one-month visit turned into an open-ended stay after he met Kaneali'i at a party. At that time, while Flannagan was immersing himself in Hawaiian culture, Kaneali'i was concentrating on American music, but after jamming together a while, they found that certain musical something that just clicked into place.

"When I heard Keli'i's voice I knew I had met my musical soulmate," says Flannagan. "I just had to travel 6,000 miles to find him."

Kaneali'i grew up in a musical family of 15 in Honolulu. He learned the slack key guitar, a tradition unique to Hawaii, from his uncle, and sang at church and with a high school club.

Hapa's music is known for the strength of its melodies, harmonized vocals and fluid acoustic guitars, sounding at times not unlike a Hawaiian Simon and Garfunkel. Their latest album, "Namahana," contains original and traditional songs, including slack key guitar instrumentals.

"Hawaiian Sunset '99," featuring Hapa, Aug. 25, 7 p.m. at Tokyo Bunkamura Orchard Hall. Tickets are 6,800 yen, 6,300 yen and 5,800 yen; Aug. 28, 6:30 p.m. at Osaka, Kawachi-Nagano Lovely Hall. Tickets are 2,500 yen. For more information, call Conversation at (03) 3233-1933.

Not quite as popular as Hawaii, but another top island destination for Japanese, is the Indonesian island of Bali. Here, the locals are even more culturally proud than the Hawaiians, and gamelan orchestras abound both for tourist and local consumption.

Suar Agung is a unique gamelan, performing jegog (bamboo gamelan). The music has been passed down through the generations, although just 25 years ago it was in danger of dying out. The bamboo used to make the jegog, the world's thickest and largest variety, grows in profusion around the village of Sankar Agung in the district of Jembrana, west Bali.

The instruments are notoriously difficult to make. The inside of the bamboo is slowly chipped away to varying degrees to produce slightly different tones. Eight pieces are then suspended from a wooden frame to form a single instrument. Different instruments in the ensemble are tuned microtonally to produce the jegog's distinctive, rich acoustic texture.

During World War II all the instruments were destroyed. It wasn't until 1975, when Suar Agung (Magnificent Light) from Sankar Agung Village was formed and new instruments were made, that the tradition was revived. Suar Agung now boasts over 300 players; when they perform together they are allegedly the world's largest percussion ensemble.

For logistic reasons, performances of jegog are rare outside of Bali, but Suar Agung has now performed several times in Japan. The musicians are all amateur, most of them are farmers, but 24 of the finest among their ranks have been selected to take part in the upcoming tour of Japan.

Recently several instruments not made of bamboo have been added to the jegog, including kendang, a wooden barrel drum, and the metallic instruments ceng ceng and kempli associated with the usual type of gamelan.

Also featured will be joget bumbung, an improvised dance to the accompaniment of bamboo harp. Until 1940, when Suar Agung's founder, I Ketut Suwentra, developed a new style, this dance was performed exclusively for the royal family. It's now performed regularly all over Bali.

Suar Agung's tour of Japan will be part of "Sukiyaki Meets the World" in Toyama, Aug. 20, 7 p.m., at A. Mieux Hiroba Tokusetsu Stage (no charge); Aug. 22, 7:30 p.m., at Toyama Angoji Temple at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are 4,000 yen in advance or 4,500 yen on the door. For tickets and information, call NK Gekijo Helios at (0763) 22-1125; Aug. 24, 7 p.m. at Tokyo Katsushika Symphony Hills Mozart Hall. Tickets are 4,500 yen, 4,000 yen and 3,500 yen from Symphony Hills Ticket Center, (03) 5670-2233, Ticket Pia and Ticket Saison; and Aug. 25, 7 p.m., at Tsukuba Nova Hall, (0298) 52-5881.

Another percussion ensemble, very different but just as spectacular as Suar Agung, is Les Tambours de Brazza from Congo.

Congo's Brazzaville is the only capital city in the world to face another capital across its river: Kinshasa, of the much bigger Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Zaire. Kinshasa, frivolous, disorganized and exciting, spawned the exultant guitar pop sound of rumba or soukous, and while there has been much interaction between the two cities, the Francophone Brazzaville retained its laid-back atmosphere of a French provincial town. The Congolese language, social atmosphere and music are altogether more formal than its wilder neighbor.

Les Tambours de Brazza were formed in 1991 by Emile Biayenda, and combines rhythms from all over Africa, while paying special attention to the diverse range of styles found on the Brazzaville side of the river Congo. There are believed to be over 50 ethnic groups living in Congo, speaking many languages and having their own distinctive rhythms.

The troupe's 12 drummers originate from different cultural identities, combining various percussion instruments such as ngoma, lokole, sanza and the African wooden xylophone, the balafon. Under the directorship of Biayenda, a proficient jazz drummer, their rhythms make for a compelling mixture of the contemporary and traditional, while the presence of dancers add visual appeal. Proceeding the group on their Tokyo date, as well as accompanying them on a few numbers, will be Japan's DJ Force.