Noriyuki Asakura

is a Japanese composer and vocalist, best known for composing the soundtracks to the anime series Rurouni Kenshin and the video game franchises Tenchu and Way of the Samurai. He is well known for combining traditional Japanese music with elements of rock, jazz, and other world music. He established the music production studio Mega-Alpha in 2003, which composes for various types of media.

Career Asakura was born in Itabashi, Tokyo and raised in Ehime Prefecture. Asukara was interested in music since childhood, but gained a greater interest after listening to Led Zeppelin, performing for multiple amateur rock bands as a guitarist and vocalist. While attending Nihon University, Asakura entered the music industry professionally in 1982, marking his debut by performing the theme song for Keiji Yoroshiku as Noriyuki Asakura & GANG. He has since began composing music for television programs and movies, as well as producing music for a number of Japanese pop stars during the 1980s and early 1990s. He debuted in the anime industry by composing 1987's Junk Boy, followed by Time Travel Tondekeman and the Shakotan Boogie original video animation. Asakura composed his first video game score for Crime Crackers, which released in 1994. In 1996, he composed the soundtrack to Rurouni Kenshin, which combined traditional Japanese music with rock, giving the soundtrack a contemporary feel. His compositions for the series would influence his style and later work. Under Mega-Alpha, Asakura composed for multiple anime series, including Ragnarok the Animation, Major, and Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc. Asakura composed additional music for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, which released in March 2019. In 2020, Asakura composed Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story, a spin-off of the Way of the Samurai franchise. Asakura was to compose for Tokyo Babylon at King Records, which was set to premiere in 2021. The series was canceled following investigation of plagiarism regarding character designs by the production company, with a new anime production to be produced by a different studio.

Asakura composed for Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, which released in 2025. Asakura was approached based on his work on the Ruroni Kenshin anime in order to compose a soundtrack that would match the Japanese aesthetic of the setting, with his experiece in the game industry allowing him to better match the gameplay context. The soundtrack was recorded using a live orchestra, which Asakura suggested during development.

Style Motivated by a desire to take a different approach to soundtracks for historical Japanese fiction, Asakura combines traditional Japanese music with elements of rock, as well as folk music from multiple Asian countries including China, Thailand, and Turkey. Asakura further developed this style with Tenchu and Way of the Samurai. Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story 2025 Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma