Several years ago a number of high-level Japanese politicians and government leaders, including the prime minister, visited the United States for a series of discussions with their American counterparts. After the serious meetings concluded, the participants all joined an informal party with their hosts.

At the party, it was reported, the Americans asked the Japanese to sing some traditional music. Perhaps the Americans were expecting an austere rendition of a noh chant or some traditional poetry, as is seen often times in the movies, when aristocratic Japanese suddenly break out into traditional song and dance at a gathering or when faced by some truly difficult situation.

The Japanese politicians were baffled at the request, however. The best they could come up with was some badly sung enka popular songs or rehashed versions of early 20th-century American songs they had learned at school. Whatever it was, they could not muster a very impressive performance for their hosts and ended up embarrassed.

There's nothing new about Japanese politicians coming across rather foolishly, but this story indicates a serious lack of awareness toward traditional music among a whole generation of Japanese. Japanese over 65 grew up in a musical vacuum (in Japanese, they are called the uta-naki sedai, the generation without song). The prewar education system with its imperialistic leanings (including musical ones, from emperor-serving performances of gagaku) had been dismantled, and there was nothing to take its place except American pop or European classical music. Japanese music was too difficult or too old-fashioned, and the result is that this generation grew up with little sense of musical identity. Everything was either imported from distant cultures or from a time so ancient that it was no longer meaningful.

Postwar Japan has been domineered by this generation of musically challenged people (almost entirely men, for some reason). One of the reasons why Japanese music tends to remain contained in its own world and not very accessible to the general populace is that there has been little public awareness of its immediacy to the age and its ability to confer a sense of personal and cultural identity. Fortunately, this is beginning to change as more youth, women and foreigners enter into the musical scene, and, more importantly, a major overhaul of the music education guidelines takes place over the next few years.

The fall season continues with many good opportunities to hear and experience hogaku. A group of young shakuhachi, koto and shamisen players are presenting an afternoon of traditional san-kyoku ensemble music. All the musicians are graduates of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Geidai). Their aim is not to just have an audience appreciate fine classical music, but to create an atmosphere where the audience is invited to learn more about the music, and perhaps even begin to study it. Before the concert begins, there will be an informal demonstration and display of the instruments for those who want to get a closer look.

These musicians are eager to share, and welcome those who are willing to listen and learn. The title of their performance is, appropriately, "Sankyoku Music: Keeping Up With the Age."

"Iroha ni Hogaku, Sankyoku no Maki, Jidai wo Otte," 3 p.m. Nov. 23, Katsushika Symphony Hills, (03) 5670-2233. Five-minute walk from Aoto or Tateishi Station, Keisei Line. Admission 3,000 yen, 2,000 yen. The instrument demonstration and display is free and begins at noon in the second-floor gallery.

Chieko Fukuda is a young shamisen and koto player who concentrates on perfecting and enlivening the traditional pieces of her style. Her yearly recitals, all of which include master accompanists, have become a staple of autumn hogaku fare. She will be joined this time by Living National Treasure shakuhachi master Reibo Aoki and the shinobue (transverse flute) player Toru Fukuhara.

"Fukuda Chieki Ensokai" 7 p.m. Nov. 24, Kioi Small Hall, (03) 5276-4500; JR Yotsuya Station. Admission 4,000 yen in advance, 4,500 yen at the door. For tickets or more information, call Kioi Hall Ticket Center, (03) 3237-0061 or Ticket Hogaku Journal, (03) 3360-1325.

Hiroe Yonekawa, whose name appears often in this column, is a prolific koto and shamisen player from a very illustrious hogaku family. Like her mother, the Living National Treasure Toshiko Yonekawa, Hiroe not only carries the Edo Period tradition of jiuta and sokyoku, she also actively performs contemporary music for her instruments. Her recital will feature two engaging classic pieces and a piece by the composer Kenjiro Urata.

"Hiroe Yonekawa Koto, Sangen Recital" 7 p.m. Nov. 25, abc Kaikan, (03) 3436-0430, near Shiba Koen subway station. Admission 4,000 yen. For tickets or more information call Collecta, (03) 3711-0979.

Kenjiro Urata's works will also be featured in an upcoming recital by the shamisen player Katsuyoshiju Kineya. Urata, a composition professor at Geidai, writes difficult but engaging compositions that test the limits of the instruments while respecting the integrity of both the genre and the performers.

I had the privilege of performing one of his pieces a few years ago, and although I fretted (and complained) over its technical difficulty, when it finally coalesced with the other performers I was deeply impressed with how he fitted it all together. The recital, featuring an impressive lineup of accompanists, along with compositions by composers such as Seiho Kineya nd others, promises to be stunning.

Kineya Katsuyoshiju Recital, 6:30 p.m. Nov. 26, Nihonbashi Gekijo, (03) 3666-4255. Suitengu-mae subway station Exit No. 6, Hibiya Line Ningyocho Station Exit No. A2, Toei-Asakusa Line Ningyocho Station Exit No. A3. Admission 4,000 yen. For tickets or more information, call Katsuyoshiju Kineya, (03) 3851-1085.