Tokyo boasts several quality professional and amateur Western-style orchestras, as my colleague Robert Ryker keeps reminding us. The elite music schools of the nation's capital turn out highly competent piano, string and woodwind players who are active around the world. American pop songs are heard and enjoyed by the majority of Japan's youth. With such a wide, ubiquitous selection of Western music throughout Japan's cities and towns, how does Japanese hogaku music fare?

Even though on the surface it seems as if Western classic and pop music has taken over the cultural and commercial music scene in Japan, a closer look reveals a rich and vibrant substratum of traditional and contemporary Japanese music concerts and events. The trick is to know where to look.

One of the best sources for information is the Hogaku Journal. Begun about 10 years ago, this Japanese-language monthly has become a major, nationwide resource for all aspects of hogaku. It lists hogaku concerts and events around the country, contains articles on historical and technical aspects of Japanese instruments and performance, presents interviews with veteran performers and introduces young players. The magazine appeals to the young yet strives to maintain respectability among the older generation.

A cursory look at its concert listings reveals dozens of events each month, from the strictly classical to avant-garde musical offerings. Some of these for April include:

A lecture/performance on the woman's joruri narrative tradition, joryu Gidayu. Joruri is the generic name for narrative songs accompanied by shamisen music, and the most conspicuous example of joruri is the narrator/singer who sits to the side of the bunraku puppet stage, reciting the dialogues and telling the story of the characters, in the style called Gidayu, after the singer Takemoto Gidayu (1651-1714), who popularized it.

The Edo Period saw the rise in popularity of joruri performed by women. In performance style and singing techniques, the female joruri singers imitate their male counterparts, but their range and voice allow them to bring a certain pathos to the music which differs from that of the male singer.

A series featuring young performers of the joryu Gidayu tradition is to be held every other month, beginning from April, with each concert centering on a different theme. The concerts will include explanations (in Japanese) of the music and performance styles. The first of the series will focus on the "Tale of Heike," with songs depicting battle scenes from that famous epic.

"Gidayu-za" 7 p.m. April 1-2, Ueno Hirokoji-Tei (Ueno Hirokoji subway station). Admission 1,000 yen. For more information call the Gidayu Association, (03) 3541-5471.

Although the best ways to experience local folk music are by sitting on a beach in Okinawa, sipping awamori, eating fresh seafood and listening to shimauta played on the distinctive snake-skinned sanshin, or traveling to the cold reaches of Tohoku in midwinter and invigorating yourself with the energetic strummings of the Tsugaru shamisen, it is not actually essential to travel to the far provinces to hear authentic folk music. Some of the best performers and musicians regularly come to the metropolitan area to teach, perform, or live.

A brand-new live house in Yokohama, Manabiya Yusanbo, will begin presenting such folk music. The first part of April will feature those two extremes of min'yo, shimauta from the southern islands of Okinawa and Tsugaru shamisen from the northern tip of Aomori. The Okinawan music features Mitsumasa Nakamoto and the Kuicha Paradise. The Tsugaru performance will be by the Katsuki Sawada Group.

Okinawan Island Music: Songs from Miyako, Yaeyama and Okinawa, 7:30 p.m. April 1, at Manabiya Yusanbo (three-minute walk from Nakagawa Station, Yokohama municipal subway). Admission 1,800 yen in advance, 2,000 yen at the door.

Tsugaru Shamisen, 7:30 p.m. April 8. Admission 1,800 yen in advance, 2,000 yen at the door. For more information or reservations, call Manabiya Yusanbo, (045) 942-8799.

Two upcoming presentations of classical koto and shakuhachi will offer an inexpensive way to hear some of the best of traditional hogaku music. Performers and students of Seijo Tominari of the Ikuta style of koto will present an all-day concert. Although this is a student recital (happyokai), there will be appearances by Kiyotaka Tomiyama and his father, the Living National Treasure Seikin Tomiyama.

Ikuta-ryu Sankyoku Ensokai, 11 a.m. April 2, Tokyo Shoken Kaikan Hall, (03) 3667-9210, Kayaba-cho subway station, exit 8. Admission 1,000 yen.

Younger players of the Kinko style of shakuhachi present yearly concerts to share their music to a wider public and also to help sharpen their skills. Attending one of their concerts is a good way to get a sense of what constitutes a certain style and to hear the varieties of individual interpretations.

31st Kinko-ryu Shakuhachi Concert, 10:30 a.m. April 9, Nikkan Kogyo Hall, (03) 3222-7118, Kudanshita subway station, exit 5. Admission 1,000 yen.

The Hogaku Yonin no Kai is a group of venerable hogaku masters who have been active performing traditional and contemporary hogaku music in Japan and around the world since 1957. They have received a host of awards from various government and private agencies and probably have performed more concerts abroad than any other hogaku group. They maintain a vigorous schedule and will continue their foreign concert tours this fall with a trip to Africa.

Their elegant style and high performance standards have insured that whoever hears their music, whether foreign or Japanese, will experience the best of hogaku. They will be presenting their 63rd subscription concert this month.

Hogaku Yonin no Kai, 7 p.m. April 19, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Small Hall (Ueno Station, Ueno Park exit). Admission 3,500 yen in advance, 4,000 yen at the door. For more information or reservations call the Hogaku Yonin no Kai, (03) 3404-0608.

Christopher Yohmei Blasdel can be reached through his Web site, www2.gol.com/users/yohmei