Career
He is known for his historical novels as well as his influence on Japanese literature following the Second World War. The novel, which was serialized in the Asahi Shimbun and turned into a film in 1950, was notable as one of the few examples of jidaigeki that survived the strict censorship of the time. He became known as a standard-bearer for the revival of popular literature in the postwar period.
Murakami"s well-known later works include Mitokōmon (水戸黄門) and Katsu Kaishū (勝海舟).
His period work on Minamoto no Yoshitsune was made into a television drama by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. Murakami died of heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo on April 3, 2006, at the age of 96.
