Masahiro Hara

Masahiro Hara (原 昌宏, Hepburn:, born 1957) is a Japanese engineer and Hosei University graduate who is best known for inventing the QR code in 1994.

Early life and education
Hara was born in Tokyo in 1957. He studied in the department of electric and electronic engineering at Hosei University. He graduated in 1980.

Denso and QR code invention
After graduating from Hosei University, Hara was working at the Japanese company Denso, which is a subsidiary of the Toyota Group. From then on, Hara started working to develop a barcode system. In 1992, in Denso's developing department (later Denso Wave), Hara had been given a task to develop a new 2D code system that is capable of productively tracking components used in the automotive industry, thus started a new project. One day at work, over a lunchtime game of go, he recognized the game's black and white pattern could be used to encode information. He also made an investigation on publications to seek a unique proportion for the position pattern to make sure that readers could be able to identify. The code was introduced in 1994.

In 2021, QR codes were being used to book and track COVID-19 tests and contact tracing. Hara has stated that he would like to develop QR codes for additional medical purposes, including imaging such as x-rays or electrocardiogram data. Hara still works for Denso as of 2022.

Japan International Cooperation Agency
Hara was the chief engineer and advisor for a Japan International Cooperation Agency's "School For All" program to improve education in Niger.

Selected publications

 * Co-author of chapters 7 & 12 of "Educational development through community-wide collaboration", 2020 book "Community Participation with Schools in Developing Countries" ISBN 9780429057472

Awards
In 2014, he and the inventors of the QR code development team were awarded the European Inventor Award.