He moved to Ibaraki prefecture when his father was appointed an official under the new Meiji government and initially intended to study medicine.

He served on a number of ships in the early Imperial Japanese Navy, including the corvettes Tsukuba, Yamato, Jingei, Tenryū and the cruiser Takachiho.

On his return, he served in a number of staff positions before he was appointed executive officer to the Chin'en in 1902.

However, Murakami's plans for further modernization of the Imperial Japanese Navy and introduction of new technologies were brought to a halt by the Siemens scandal.

During World War I, from December 1915 to April 1917, Murakami was commander in chief of the IJN 3rd Fleet, and played an active role in the Battle of Tsingtao and the occupation of German colonies in the South Pacific.