Why Simplicity Wins: The Secret Philosophy Behind MUJI’s Global Success

The “Empty” Philosophy:

Kenya Hara’s entire design philosophy revolves around the concept of “emptiness” (空). But he doesn’t mean emptiness as “nothingness” or “lack” — he means creating space for the user’s imagination.

When he was designing for MUJI, he pushed the idea that good design doesn’t impose a personality on you. Instead, it should be so simple that you can project your own life, feelings, and thoughts onto it.

One of his quotes is:

“Designing emptiness means designing possibilities.”

This is why MUJI products feel so calming — they don’t tell you how to live, they invite you to live however you want.

Once, a magazine asked Hara why MUJI doesn’t use bright logos or branding like other companies. Hara answered with a smile:

“If you give people a blank sheet of paper, you give them the whole world.”

He insisted that a white bag with no logo could be more luxurious than a luxury brand, because it was pure — it was “empty” yet full of possibilities.

The Smell of Design:

Kenya Hara once curated an exhibition called “HAPTIC,” where visitors could touch, smell, and feel design rather than just look at it.

One of the wildest parts of the exhibit was that he included scented objects — he believed that design is not only visual, but should also involve senses like smell and touch.

He collaborated with a perfumer to design “smells” for objects, like the scent of a freshly sharpened pencil or the soft smell of a sunny tatami room.

When a reporter asked why he cared so much about smell, Hara laughed and said:

“Because design should not only decorate the eye. It should decorate the heart.”

This really shows how deeply he sees the connection between senses and emotion.

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Redesigning the World:

Kenya Hara started a project called “RE-DESIGN: The Daily Products of the 21st Century,” where he asked famous designers to redesign simple things like matches, toilets, umbrellas, and tea bags.

His point was:

“Even the most ordinary things can be made extraordinary when you rethink them from scratch.”

In one of the designs, a matchbox wasn’t just a box of matches — it was redesigned into a tiny, beautiful light sculpture when the matches were arranged in a spiral.

Hara said:

“The match is not only a tool to start fire. It’s the poetry of the fire’s birth.”

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Designing for the Future of Japan:

After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Kenya Hara didn’t just sit back. He led a project called “Designing Japan,” aiming to rethink Japan’s future through the lens of design — not just industrial design, but societal design.

He believed that beauty and function could help rebuild hope and resilience.

He told a university audience:

“Our job as designers is not to make beautiful things.

It is to find beauty where no one sees it — and show it to the world.”

Source: HARA DESIGN INSTITUTE – RE-DESIGN