The last weeks of summer offer many hogaku concerts, both in Tokyo and around Japan, including two spectacular outdoor events.

Japan's Tsugaru region in the Northeast has a rich legacy of folk performing arts. The bold, energetic melodies of the Tsugaru shamisen, the lyrically powerful Tsugaru folk songs and the stunning regional dances have become popular throughout Japan in the last few years, but it is actually quite rare to hear local performers of the tradition. The Tsugaru region has special hardships, both climatic and economic, and this colors and informs the folk music.

The International House of Japan will feature a select program of Tsugaru performing arts by Hirosaki-based performers in the famous Japanese style I-House gardens. Chisato Yamada II (Kazuo Shibutani) will lead the shamisen group and te-odori dancer Makiko Kurauchi and her group will perform several of the local dances. Yuriko Ohtani will be the featured vocalist. Come out and enjoy a summer's evening in the center of Tokyo, surrounded by greenery and music.

Music, Song and Dance from Tohoku, 7 p.m. Aug. 21 at the International House of Japan in Roppongi. Admission 3,000 yen. For reservations or information call the International House of Japan Program Department, (03) 3470-3211. A limited number of free tickets is available to international students with valid ID.

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The Hakone Open-Air Museum last year celebrated its 30th anniversary. Over the years, the museum has entertained and edified its visitors with excellent works of art, both foreign and Japanese, set in the stunning surroundings of the Hakone mountains. To celebrate its three decades, the museum has sponsored a yearlong exhibition (Aug. 1, 1999-Sept. 10, 2000), "Forms in Nature," featuring nine contemporary Japanese artists who created site-specific, outdoor art.

As part of this exhibition, the museum commissioned the Japanese composer Mamoru Fujieda to produce a music and dance performance to connect with the sculptures.

The music instrumentation for Fujieda's piece includes Kou Ishikawa and Tamami Tono on the sho, Yoko Nishi on the koto, Chiaki Yagi on the fue (transverse flute) and Yoshiko Kanda on percussion. Composer Mamoru Fujieda will be adding his own sounds, and the well-known dancer Setsuko Yamada, whose diverse background includes butoh as well as other styles, will use the art works as backdrops for her dance.

Part of the allure of this concert, other than the beautiful backdrop of the mountains and surrounding sculptures, will be the quality of light as evening fades to darkness, and the ambient sounds of insects and other mountain noises adding to the refined tones of the Japanese instruments. This performance is free (admission to the museum is required) and highly recommended as a perfect end to summer.

"Sounding Forest," 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20, Hakone Open-Air Museum, a two-minute walk from Chokoku no Mori Station, Hakone Tozan Railways, departing from Hakone Yumoto or Odawara Station. Concert admission free, but entry to the museum is 1,600 yen, 1,100 yen for university and high-school students and 800 yen for middle- and elementary-school students. For more information call the museum, (0460) 2-1161, or see their Web site at www.hakone-oam.or.jp

In the late 1960s Keiko Nosaka, feeling the need for a koto with more chromatic possibilities, created the 20-string koto. The extra strings (the classic koto has only 13) enabled her to expand the contemporary koto repertory to include pieces heretofore impossible on the orthodox instrument.

More recently, she created the 25-string koto, expanding the koto's possibilities even further. There are few other players on this instrument at the moment, but among them is Nosaka's student Yuriko Hiyama. Together with flute performer-composer Kei Hiyama, Yuriko will present the second of a series of recitals titled "Season Concerts" in Kyoto. The concert will feature Nosaka as guest artist, and the program will concentrate on contemporary compositions by leading composers such as Akira Ifukube ("Biwa Ko"), Mamoru Ono (Sonata for Two Koto), Michio Miyagi ("Mizu no Hentai") and three compositions by Kei Hiyama.

The Hiyama concert will offer an opportunity to hear the 25-string koto, with its elegant procession of tones, combined with the flute.

Hiyama Kei, Hiyama Yuriko Flute and 25-String Koto Recital, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at Kyoto City Avanti Hall (075) 671-8188, in front of the Kyoto Station Hachijo Exit. Admission: 3,500 yen in advance, 4,000 yen at the door. For reservations or more information call Hiyama, (0726) 21-2923.

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The Nagano Music Festival enters its second year, under the direction of composer Isao Matsushita. This year the festival focuses on Western classic, ethnic and contemporary Japanese music, with concerts and lectures taking place throughout the city of Nagano.

I particularly recommend three concerts in this festival. The first, Aug. 24, will feature the koto player Kumiko Fujioka and others in a new piece by Yuji Takahashi, "Koto nado Asobi," along with a performance of indigenous Filipino instruments. In a lecture concert Aug. 25 the head priest of the Zenkoji Temple will describe and perform shomyo Buddhist chant. The final concert Aug. 27 will feature something for everyone: local folk songs, selections from Bach and Beethoven and a piece by festival director Matsushita, "Hiten Asobi," with the taiko drummer Eitetsu Hayashi.

Nagano Music Festival 2000, Aug. 24-27. Kumiko Fujioka et al. in concert 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at Mielparque Hall; admission 1,500 yen, students 1,000 yen. Shomyo lecture concert 3:30 p.m. Aug. 25 at Hotel Kokusai 21; admission 3,000 yen, students 1,500 yen. Final concert, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27; admission free but reservations required. For reservations or more information, call the Nagano City Office, Cultural Department, (026) 232-6235.

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There is no such thing as ageism in hogaku. If anything, the reverse is true; younger hogaku performers are not taken as seriously as their elders. I wrote a few months ago about the venerated koto master and Living National Treasure Toshiko Yonekawa and her 88th birthday celebration. This month another octogenarian koto master is celebrating his long and fruitful career.

Hiroyuki Nakata has also been designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government. His life and career span four eras by Japanese reckoning: Meiji, Taisho, Showa and Heisei. His specialty is Yamada-style koto playing, which emphasizes the theatrical and vocal traditions which evolved during the Edo Period. His upcoming celebratory performance is in two parts: classics and contemporary.

Part One will feature other koto masters such as Toshiko Yonekawa and shakuhachi greats Reibo Aoki and Hanzan Shimabara. A total of 24 pieces will be performed, with Nakata's students appearing in most of them.

Part Two will feature Nakata's works, which are based in tradition but richly informed by the present. In his case, the "present" is the fertile postwar period when a large number of new hogaku pieces were composed. This recital is a unique opportunity to hear one of the great koto masters of the 20th century.

Nakata Hiroyuki Beiju Kinen Enso-kai, Aug. 28 at the National Theater. Admission to Part One is free; Part Two is 7,000 yen. For information and reservations call NHK Service Center, (03) 3464-0200.

A lecture concert at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall Aug. 31 features shakuhachi activist Ryuken Yoshioka and nihon buyo dancer Yuka Mizuki. Using volunteers from the audience, basic dance moves using fan and kerchief will be demonstrated, followed by a dance and shakuhachi performance.