Murata Tsuneyoshi (村田 経芳, 1838-1921) was a Japanese samurai, swordsman, marksman, firearm inventor, gunsmith, soldier, and military officer.

He was born the eldest son of Murata Ransai Tsunenori (村田 蘭斎 経徳), a retainer of the Shimazu clan.

[2] During this battle, Murata was strongly impressed by the British guns, and began to research contemporary European firearms technology.

Among the Western-made firearms captured from the Shogunate army, Murata was especially impressed with the Sharps rifle and equipped the First Rural Unit with it.

[2] However, local authorities found pretexts to prevent him from visiting manufacturing facilities due to a prevailing fear of arms development in Asia.

[2] The first Murata rifles were made using steel imported from France, and technicians from Germany were hired to teach the art of drawing brass cartridge cases.

Much of the machinery for mass producing early 11x60mm Murata cartridges was procured by the Japanese government from the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

On June 5, 1896, he was created a baron (男爵, danshaku) for his military service in the Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellion.

In 1891, Murata collaborated with Jūmonji Shinsuke (十文字 伸介) of the Kanemaru Kenjirō Gun Shop (金丸健二郎商店) on Japan's first published book on modern Western-style hunting, the New Illustrated Book of Rifle Hunting (傍訓図解銃猟新書, Bōkun zukai jūryō shinsho).

In his later years, he often travelled to Europe to participate in long range shooting competitions where he won a number of championships.