Hara was born in
Hiroshima in 1905. In his early years, he was an introverted personality who suffered from anxiety states. While he was a middle school student, Hara became familiar with Russian literature, and also began to write poetry. He particularly admired the poets
Murō Saisei and
Paul Verlaine. After graduating from the English literature department of
Keio University, he published prose and poetry works in
Mita Bungaku magazine. In 1933, he married Sadae Sasaki, sister of literary critic Kiichi Sasaki. For a limited time, he was also affiliated with Japan's
left wing movement. The 1951 short story ''
The Land of Heart's Desire (Shingan no kuni'') was Hara's final, posthumously published work. His already fragile mental state had been exacerbated by the outbreak of the
Korean War and president
Truman's public consideration of the use of atomic bombs. He committed suicide in Tokyo on March 13, 1951, by lying down on the tracks of an oncoming train, a death which he had already contemplated in his last story. ==Legacy==