Skyrider’s Murakami Named Special Tourism Representative for Iwate Prefecture

Hiroaki Murakami, known for his role on the 1979 incarnation of Kamen Rider as lead character Hiroshi Tsukuba, is teaming up for a promotional campaign in his hometown.

Hiroaki Murakami (57) was designated Special Envoy for his home prefecture Iwate and its “Iwate☆Hamarain” PR campaign, with a press conference held in Tokyo.

“Hamarain” means “Come and visit” as well as “Let’s be friends” in the Iwate dialect. The campaign promotes tourism at Iwate, its local products as well as information regarding the recovery efforts after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake.

His parent’s home, located in Rikuzentakata city was halfway destroyed by the tsunami when the earthquake occurred. He sent child clothes and diapers to his former school, Hirota Elementary on April 2nd of the same year and has been engaging in support activities by himself ever since. He said: “My hometown, Rikuzentakata, suffered catastrophic damage and it is now in the middle of a massive ‘surgery’, literally cutting a mountain in half. I accepted this designation in order to help the whole of Iwate prefecture to have more energy.”

His job as a special envoy will consist of 4 PR videos to be posted on the prefecture’s website from the 18th. Murakami will appear playing “parts that he has special feelings for” such as Yagyuu Jub-e, Oda Nobunaga, a doctor and a police detective.

He is enthusiastic about doing activities with his debut role, Skyrider. “If there is something I can by transforming, I’d really like to do it”. There has been a recent trend of former Kamen Rider actors reprising their roles, however, Murakami, whose show ended in 1980, has not done so. If this happens it would be transforming again after 34 years.

All English translations are accredited to The Tokusatsu Network staff members. Please do not repost without crediting and directly linking back to the original Tokusatsu Network article.

Source: Yahoo! Japan