After beginning her career as a gravure idol, which included modeling for Akira Gomi, Murakami made her adult video (AV) debut in the March 1988 h.m.p. Miss Christine release, Hatsujō Kansen (発情感染).[2] In December of her debut year she also had a role in Toei's mainstream drama release, Koiko no mainichi (恋子の毎日).[3]
In addition to continuing her AV career, Murakami had another role in a mainstream drama, appearing in Bandai Visual's Shin dōtei monogatari: Hong Kong virgin boy (新・童貞物語 ホンコンバージンボーイ) in March 1990.[4] Also in 1990 she appeared in pioneering pink film director/producer Kan Mukai's Code Name 348: Onna keiji sashiba (コードネーム348 女刑事 サシバ).[5] She also had roles in a number of V-Cinema films.[6]
Her work became popular in Hong Kong, and led to her getting roles in several Category III films of Hong Kong cinema, starting around 1991.[7] Her most significant film there was the 1991 cult favorite, Sex and Zen. In a review of the DVD release of Sex and Zen, a reviewer described her as one of "Asian cinema's most beautiful actresses".[8] Her last film in Hong Kong, 1/3 Lover, was released in 1993.
There was a minor scandal when news leaked that she might have had sex with the Sultan of Brunei during his visit to Japan in 1993.[9][10] For several years starting in the late 1990s, she toured various strip theaters around Japan, such as the famous Asakusa Rokku-za (ロック座).
In 1997, she produced and starred in the pink filmMurakami Rena: kyūkyoku meigizuma (村上麗奈 究極名器妻), through Runa Films.[11][12] The film was distributed theatrically by XCes, scripted by pink film actress Kiyomi Itō, and directed by Satoru Kobayashi,[13] director of the first pink film, Flesh Market (1962).[14] The film was re-issued in June 2003 as 村上麗奈 極上けいれん妻.[15]
Later, Murakami had a small part in the 2008 Japanese comedy, Serial Dad.