is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 actor. He specializes in jidaigeki

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

roles, and has also taken parts in tokusatsu

Tokusatsu

is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....

and modern productions.

Born in Rikuzentakata

Rikuzentakata, Iwate

is a city in Iwate, Japan.In the quinquennial census of 2010, the city had a population of 23,302 . With a total area of 232.29 km² the density is 100 persons per km². The city was founded on January 1, 1955. The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused extensive damage to the city.- Politics...

, Iwate Prefecture

Iwate Prefecture

is the second largest prefecture of Japan after Hokkaido. It is located in the Tōhoku region of Honshū island and contains the island's easternmost point. The capital is Morioka. Iwate has the lowest population density of any prefecture outside Hokkaido...

, he enrolled in Hosei University

Hosei University

is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan.The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha , established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō . This was from 1883 headed by Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade, and was heavily influenced by the French legal tradition...

 but withdrew when he successfully auditioned for a part in Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider (Skyrider)

is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the sixth program in the Kamen Rider Series. It has the same name as the first series in the franchise, and fans usually refer to this series as or in order to distinguish it from the original. The series was broadcast on TBS from October 5, 1979...

. He made his debut as Tsukuba Hiroshi in Skyrider

Kamen Rider (Skyrider)

is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It is the sixth program in the Kamen Rider Series. It has the same name as the first series in the franchise, and fans usually refer to this series as or in order to distinguish it from the original. The series was broadcast on TBS from October 5, 1979...

Hiroaki appeared in the NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

 jidaigeki On'yado Kawasemi in 1980–81, and in a new series Shin On'yado Kawasemi in 1997. He appeared in Hissatsu Shigotonin Series 4, and as a repeating character in Series 5, including special episodes (1984–87). Five Taiga drama

Taiga drama

is the name NHK gives to the annual, year-long historical fiction television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shōroku and Takarazuka star Awashima Chikage, the network has hired a producer, director, writer, music...

roles are among his credits. They are in Haru no Hatō (1985), Kōsaka Masanobu

Kosaka Masanobu

also known as was one of Takeda Shingen's most loyal retainers, and one of his "Twenty-Four Generals" during the Sengoku period of Japan. He is often credited as the original author of Kōyō Gunkan, which records the history of the Takeda family and their military tactics...

 in Takeda Shingen

Takeda Shingen

, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...

(1988), Fujiwara no Kiyohira

Fujiwara no Kiyohira

was a samurai of mixed Japanese-Emishi parentage of the late Heian period , who was the founder of the Hiraizumi or Northern Fujiwara dynasty that ruled Northern Japan from about 1100 to 1189....

 in Homura Tatsu (1993), Akechi Mitsuhide

Akechi Mitsuhide

, nicknamed Jūbei or called from his clan name and title, was a samurai who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan.Mitsuhide was a general under daimyo Oda Nobunaga, although he became infamous for his betrayal in 1582, which led to Nobunaga's death at Honno-ji...

 in Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...

(1996), and Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu

Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu

was a Japanese samurai of the Edo period He was an official in the Tokugawa shogunate and he was a favorite of the fifth shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi....

 in Genroku Ryōran (1999). In the annual TV Tokyo

TV Tokyo

is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 New Year's spectacular, he portrayed Sasaki Kojirō

Sasaki Kojiro

was a prominent Japanese swordsman widely considered as a Kensei, born in Fukui Prefecture. He lived during the Sengoku and early Edo periods and is most remembered for his death while battling Miyamoto Musashi in 1612.-History:...

 in Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi

, also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age...

(1990), Kira no Nikichi in Jirōchō Sangokushi (1991), Yagyū Jūbei in Tokugawa Bugeichō Yagyū Sandai no Ken (1993), and Araki Mataemon

Araki Mataemon

was a Japanese samurai active in the early Edo period. Araki Mataemon was the founder of the koryū martial art Yagyū Shingan-ryū, known sometimes as Yagyū Shingan-ryū Taijutsu....

 in Tenka Sōran Tokugawa Sandai no Inbō (2006). Among the jidaigeki series he has starred in are Hatchōbori no Shichinin (2000–06), Zenigata Heiji

Zenigata Heiji

is Japanese fictional character, the hero of a series of Japanese novels, films and TV programmes set in the Edo period of Japanese history. He is a policeman who catches criminals by throwing coins, the zeni of the title, thus Zenigata Heiji. The hero was created by novelist Kodō Nomura in 1937...

(2004–05), Yagyū Jūbei Nanaban Shōbu (2005–07), and Shikaku Ukeoinin (2007). Additionally, he portrayed Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

 in Taikōki

Taikoki

The is a biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose to the office of taikō during the Azuchi-Momoyama period of Japanese history. The Confucian scholar Oze Hoan published the work in 1626 during the rule of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu...

 Tenka o Neratta Otoko: Hideyoshi (2006).

He has appeared in more than fifteen films, including several in the Kamen Rider and Hissatsu franchises. Further films to his credit include Gokudō no Onnatachi 2, Juliet Game, and Iron Maze (In a Grove

In a Grove

is a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, first appearing in the January 1922 edition of the Japanese literature monthly Shinchō. Akira Kurosawa used this story as the basis for his award-winning movie Rashōmon....

).

Source

This article incorporates material from 村上弘明 (Murakami Hiroaki) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved November 18, 2007.

External links

• Official site
• Hiroaki Murakami at IMDB
• Murakami Hiroaki at JMDB