Film music in Japan has tended to follow one of two, or perhaps three, directions. Much music is derived from historical Japanese musical traditions, particularly in older films and, of course, historical dramas. But there has been an increasing tendency to adapt Western musical influences, and often composers find themselves alternating between the two modes from film to film, as Masaru Sato did with his scores for THRONE OF BLOOD (very traditional Japanese music, based on Noh Theatre) and SUBMERSION OF JAPAN (Western jazz/pop). Perhaps most musically interesting has been a merging of the two, as ably demonstrated by respected composer Toru Takemitsu in his classical works and many film scores, such as that for Kurosawa’s RAN.