Murnau`s influence ?

[Eija Niskanen]

Hi! I am taking a class on Murnau here at UCLA, and noticed that a couple of
writers mention, that Murnau?s cinematic style might have influenced
Kurosawa. I myself noticed a similarity in the camera style of Sunrise (the
beginning where the man walks to meet the city woman) and Rashomon (the
woodcutter walks into the wood): in both these films the camera keeps on
moving so that the viewer gets an impression that the character is walking
in a circle. Do you people on this list know anything about Murnau`s
influence on Japanese cinema? Is there anything written on Murnau by
Japanese writers? eija