If you've not yet had the opportunity to experience Japanese music and wish to do so, over the next six weeks some of the contemporary hogaku masters will offer a truly diverse variety of concerts, ranging from the classical to the modern.

The husband/wife team Tatsumi Yoshioka and Seiei Tomimoto will present their annual recital early next week. Yoshioka is a versatile shakuhachi player trained in both the solo honkyoku tradition (which places emphasis on the Zen-meditative aspects of the shakuhachi) and the sankyoku classic ensemble tradition, where the shakuhachi accompanies the shamisen, koto and voice. Their recital will feature a modern shakuhachi solo piece by Yutaka Makino along with a rarely heard shakuhachi honkyoku solo, "Musashi Shirabe," transmitted by the legendary shakuhachi master Watazumi Doso.

Tomimoto, an accomplished shamisen/koto player, will perform an innovative Edo Period shamisen piece titled "Naniwa Junitsuki," which uses a lot of interesting imitative techniques. Together, Yoshioka and Tomimoto, along with guest performer Kiyotaka Tomiyama, will perform the classic sankyoku piece "Toru," with its interplay of vocal, shamisen, koto and shakuhachi parts.

Tatsumi Yoshioka, Kiyohide Tomimoto Ensokai," 7 p.m. Nov. 21 at Kioi Small Hall, between Yotsuya Station and Akasaka Mitsuke subway station. Admission 4,000 yen. For tickets or more information call Kioi Hall ticket center at (03) 3237-0061 or see the Web site at www.kioi-hall.or.jp

I wrote, several months ago, about the hogaku live house in Nippori, Waon. The venue continues to offer a great variety of hogaku programs for reasonable prices in an intimate setting. Depending on the evening, one can listen to traditional, contemporary or off-the-wall experimental hogaku.

The system at Waon is set up in a way that the performers receive only a percentage of the ticket proceeds; there is no guaranteed minimum. One might think that this would discourage the better-known musicians who could otherwise command high fees for their performances, but this has not been the case: Many well-known musicians perform there. There is a sense of camaraderie and cooperation among hogaku players in regards to the venue, as the intimate space also makes it easy for the performers to share their music.

Biwa player Junko Handa will present a concert of contemporary biwa music (including her own compositions) Nov. 21 at Waon. Handa has been a pioneer in contemporary biwa music for the past three decades. Her sonorous voice and powerful playing never fail to thrill and inspire her audiences.

"Handa Junko Biwa no Sekai," 7 p.m. Nov. 21 at Waon, (03) 5850-8033, opposite JR Nippori Station's south exit. Waon is the fifth floor of the Nippori Ekimae Bldg. Admission 3,000 yen (includes one drink).

Shamisen and koto master Seiho Tomita

Seiho Tomita was a student of the living national treasure jiuta shamisen performer Seiho Tomiyama. Tomita, though no longer connected with Tomiyama, probably remains closest in artistic style to his former teacher and is the only one who presently maintains the superb singing and playing qualities which characterized his teacher's style.

These qualities are difficult to explain, but they certainly include an appreciation of the subtle shades of nuance in both vocal and instrumental tone, and the awareness that quantity can never make up for quality. One note from Tomita's shamisen or one tone of his voice is enough to provide a rich, full effect.

Jiuta is Edo Period chamber music. The name literally means "local songs"; they were originally popular tunes from Osaka and Kyoto, sung with shamisen, koto and sometimes shakuhachi accompaniment. Like many other jiuta and koto performers, Tomita is sightless. Closing one's eyes and immersing oneself in his song, one can experience a richness and depth of vision which oftentimes cannot be discovered with the eyes open.

Seiho Tomita Jiuta Sokyoku Enso Kai," 6:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Tokyo Shoken Kaikan Hall, (03) 3667-9210, Kayaba-cho subway station, exit 8. Admission 4,000 yen. For more information call Tomita at (03) 3303-1230.

Shin'ichi Yuize is one of the more prolific contemporary composers of hogaku music of the late 20th century. His upcoming presentation of new works is number 41 in a series.

In the '60s, Yuize was one of the very few Japanese students to study under the great American contemporary composer Henry Cowell, and, like Cowell's compositions, Yuize's maintain an awareness of and respect for the traditional superimposed with modern sensibilities and techniques. Yuize's concert will feature three new pieces composed this year (including a world premiere for 17-string koto and bassoon) and an older piece, "Tono," dating from 1977.

"Dai 41-Kai Yuize Shin'ichi Sakuhin Happyokai," Nov. 29, 7 p.m. Asahi Seimei Hall (near the west exit of Shinjuku Station), (03) 3342-3164. Admission 3,000 yen. For tickets or more information call Seiha Hogaku-kai Office, (03) 3268-2965.

If you are looking for extravaganza in hogaku, you should not miss Miyoshi Gensan's performance to celebrate his 40 years of teaching shakuhachi. The concert will begin with 100 of his students performing, en masse, the opening piece. If that is not enough, the feature piece will use 130 shakuhachi players together with a pipe organ in the premiere of "Kumikyoku Miyako," a new composition based on the "seasons of Kyoto."

"Autumn" promises to be something quite unique: Jazz shakuhachi player John Kaizan Neptune will improvise with the organist, while the shakuhachi masses join in as an enormous basso ostinato for the opening and ending sections. There will also be a corner featuring Neptune's group, Takedake, and even some hogaku classics will be performed.