is a Japanese politician who has served as

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

since 2005. A native of

Toyonaka, Osaka is a Cities of Japan, city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 399,263 in 179651 households and a population density of 5700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City ...

and a former officer in the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct ...

, he was first elected governor in 2005 after serving in the

Miyagi Prefectural Assembly Miyagi may refer to: Places * Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 47 major divisions of Japan * Miyagi, Gunma, a village in Japan, merged into Maebashi in 2004 *Miyagi District, Miyagi, a district in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Other uses * Miyagi (surname ...

since 1995. In July 2017 Murai approved the online publication of a tourism promotion video that was created using

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

reconstruction funds and starred actress and gravure idol

Mitsu Dan is the professional name of , a Japanese actress, gravure idol, and writer. She has played multiple lead roles in television and film, including Naoko in the 2013 erotic thriller ''Amai Muchi'', for which she received a Newcomer of the Year awa ...

. Female members of the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly, along with members of the public, claimed that the video was sexually suggestive and demanded that it be taken down. Murai initially defended the video on the grounds that it successfully brought attention to the prefecture, but hundreds of complaints were filed in the month after publication, and he ordered the video withdrawn in August 2017.

References

1960 births Living people People from Toyonaka, Osaka Governors of Miyagi Prefecture Members of the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly National Defense Academy of Japan alumni Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians {{Japan-politician-1960s-stub