Career
He played for the Tokyo/Lotte Orions from 1968 to 1990. Murata led the Pacific League in Earned run average in 1975 and 1976. Murata missed all of the 1983 season and most of the 1984 season.
In 1989 he again led the Pacific League in European Research Area. He was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 2008, Murata served on the Eiji Sawamura Award selection committee.