[4][5] Hara has been the art director of Muji since 2001, and designed the opening and closing ceremony programs of the Nagano Winter Olympic Games 1998.

[6] This exhibition was first held at Takeo Paper Show in Tokyo, and then traveled to the U.K. (Glasgow), Denmark (Copenhagen), Hong Kong, Canada (Toronto), and China (Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing).

[8] According to Hara, re-design is "a means by which to correct and renew our feelings about the essence of design, hidden within the fascinating environment of an object that is so overly familiar to us that we can no longer see it".

[10] Shigeru Ban re-designed toilet paper, Masahiko Sato – exit/entry stamps for passports at international airports, Kengo Kuma – roach trap, Kaoru Mende – matches, Kosuke Tsumura – diapers, Naoto Fukasawa – tea bags.

[13][14] Asahi Shimbunsha published, as a book, a series of columns that Hara had written for the Nihon Keizai Shimbun [Japan Economic Newspaper] from 2000 to 2001.

In my understanding, to design is to intentionally apply to ordinary objects, phenomena and communication the essence of these innumerable ways of thinking and perceiving".

[29] [30] In 2018, the English edition of Nihon no dezain: Biishiki ga tsukuru mirai was released as Designing Japan: A Future Built on Aesthetics.

In this work, Hara explains his vision of how his industry can support Japan in crafting a future founded on a unique philosophy of beauty as well as crowd-sourced wisdom from around the world.

The book is a foundation for understanding the essence of Japanese aesthetics, while maintaining a practical approach to Japan's circumstances and future possibilities.