[Backed by Asahikawa City] A New Move for Regional Career Challenges | The Third Option of 'Side Jobs'
Color WiTh Inc. will hold a practical program to support 'side jobs' in Asahikawa City on April 16, 2026, aiming to solve career challenges in regional areas by visualizing individual strengths.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 14, 2026 at 17:40
- 🔍 Collected: April 14, 2026 at 09:01
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 19, 2026 at 19:34 (130h 32m after Collected)
Career challenges in regional areas have traditionally been discussed as a 'lack of options,' but with the spread of online environments and the trend of lifting bans on side jobs, this premise is undergoing a major shift.
On the other hand, the reality is that many people are unable to fully utilize these expanded options for reasons such as 'I don't know how to use my experience and skills.' In the latest attitude survey conducted in 2025 (*1), more than 60% of regional residents answered that they 'feel limits to career advancement within the region,' making career stagnation due to location a serious issue.
Against this background, Color WiTh Inc., with the backing of Asahikawa City, will implement a practical program in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, on April 16, 2026, to expand career possibilities through the third option of 'side jobs.' This is part of a movement to reframe career support in regional areas not just as an 'individual problem' but as a 'regional issue.'
*1 Source: Gakuho Inc. 'Survey on "Where to Live and How to Work" among those in their 20s (March 2025)'
*2 Side job (Fukugyo): Refers to a career style of working while utilizing one's experience and skills while holding multiple jobs or activities. It is attracting attention not just as a side hustle for income, but as a way of working with multiple roles centered on one's expertise and interests.
Background | Expanding Options in Regional Areas and the Subsequent 'Wall of Inability to Utilize'
Career challenges in regional areas have long existed as structural problems stemming from a lack of options. In recent years, however, the prerequisites have changed significantly. The spread of online environments has made it possible to be involved in projects in the Tokyo metropolitan area or overseas while living in a regional area, greatly easing constraints based on 'location.' In addition, with the trend of allowing side jobs, gaining experience externally while belonging to an organization is becoming common.
On the other hand, despite the expanded options, quite a few people stop just short of taking on a challenge because they don't know how to apply their experience and skills externally. There are many cases where individuals have skills applicable outside their current jobs but cannot find a place to demonstrate them. As a result, individual abilities are not returned to the regional economy and remain buried.
In this context, 'side jobs' are attracting attention as a means to expand income and career possibilities by utilizing experiences and skills without being bound by region.
Program Details | Visualizing Strengths with 'Self-History Work'
This initiative is designed around the theme of 'a work style linked to life design,' rather than just side jobs for earning income.
On the day, we will provide an opportunity to think from 'how to work' rather than 'what to do' through:
- 'Self-History Work' to take inventory of one's experience and strengths
- Sharing examples of side jobs in regional areas
- Community building through interaction among participants
■ Self-History Work
While looking back on one's life and career to date, we will organize overlooked experiences and skills, and visualize one's strengths and potential. Going beyond simply creating a chronological table, we will take inventory of past successes, setbacks, and turning points in private life, extracting value even from experiences that seem unrelated to business at first glance. We will find possibilities that lead to work.
This curriculum is designed not just as a one-off workshop but to lead to the actual practice of side jobs afterward. Utilizing Color WiTh's proprietary 'Side Job Extraction Sheet,' participants will clarify the value they can offer and the direction of their side job while organizing their experience, skills, and values.
Due to time constraints, this program will only go up to the 'Self-History Work,' but for those who wish, we will provide opportunities to work on 'Extracting Side Jobs' and 'Creating a Self-Introduction Portfolio' at a later date. The aim is to develop this into practical outputs that lead to actually acquiring projects and participating in them.
■ Side Job Extraction Sheet
Utilizing Color WiTh's proprietary 'Side Job Extraction Sheet,' strengths are visualized by multiplying portable skills and job skills based on the experiences and values organized in the self-history. While organizing career background, skills, and values, participants clarify the value they can offer and the direction of their side job.
Color WiTh's proprietary 'Side Job Extraction Sheet'
■ Self-Introduction Portfolio
Based on the content organized in the extraction sheet, participants will create a self-introduction portfolio that drops their strengths and expertise into a 'communicable form' to deliver value to third parties. By verbalizing 'areas where they can contribute' and 'value they can provide' based on experience, they produce a practical output that can be used to acquire side job projects and participate in them.
On the other hand, the reality is that many people are unable to fully utilize these expanded options for reasons such as 'I don't know how to use my experience and skills.' In the latest attitude survey conducted in 2025 (*1), more than 60% of regional residents answered that they 'feel limits to career advancement within the region,' making career stagnation due to location a serious issue.
Against this background, Color WiTh Inc., with the backing of Asahikawa City, will implement a practical program in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, on April 16, 2026, to expand career possibilities through the third option of 'side jobs.' This is part of a movement to reframe career support in regional areas not just as an 'individual problem' but as a 'regional issue.'
*1 Source: Gakuho Inc. 'Survey on "Where to Live and How to Work" among those in their 20s (March 2025)'
*2 Side job (Fukugyo): Refers to a career style of working while utilizing one's experience and skills while holding multiple jobs or activities. It is attracting attention not just as a side hustle for income, but as a way of working with multiple roles centered on one's expertise and interests.
Background | Expanding Options in Regional Areas and the Subsequent 'Wall of Inability to Utilize'
Career challenges in regional areas have long existed as structural problems stemming from a lack of options. In recent years, however, the prerequisites have changed significantly. The spread of online environments has made it possible to be involved in projects in the Tokyo metropolitan area or overseas while living in a regional area, greatly easing constraints based on 'location.' In addition, with the trend of allowing side jobs, gaining experience externally while belonging to an organization is becoming common.
On the other hand, despite the expanded options, quite a few people stop just short of taking on a challenge because they don't know how to apply their experience and skills externally. There are many cases where individuals have skills applicable outside their current jobs but cannot find a place to demonstrate them. As a result, individual abilities are not returned to the regional economy and remain buried.
In this context, 'side jobs' are attracting attention as a means to expand income and career possibilities by utilizing experiences and skills without being bound by region.
Program Details | Visualizing Strengths with 'Self-History Work'
This initiative is designed around the theme of 'a work style linked to life design,' rather than just side jobs for earning income.
On the day, we will provide an opportunity to think from 'how to work' rather than 'what to do' through:
- 'Self-History Work' to take inventory of one's experience and strengths
- Sharing examples of side jobs in regional areas
- Community building through interaction among participants
■ Self-History Work
While looking back on one's life and career to date, we will organize overlooked experiences and skills, and visualize one's strengths and potential. Going beyond simply creating a chronological table, we will take inventory of past successes, setbacks, and turning points in private life, extracting value even from experiences that seem unrelated to business at first glance. We will find possibilities that lead to work.
This curriculum is designed not just as a one-off workshop but to lead to the actual practice of side jobs afterward. Utilizing Color WiTh's proprietary 'Side Job Extraction Sheet,' participants will clarify the value they can offer and the direction of their side job while organizing their experience, skills, and values.
Due to time constraints, this program will only go up to the 'Self-History Work,' but for those who wish, we will provide opportunities to work on 'Extracting Side Jobs' and 'Creating a Self-Introduction Portfolio' at a later date. The aim is to develop this into practical outputs that lead to actually acquiring projects and participating in them.
■ Side Job Extraction Sheet
Utilizing Color WiTh's proprietary 'Side Job Extraction Sheet,' strengths are visualized by multiplying portable skills and job skills based on the experiences and values organized in the self-history. While organizing career background, skills, and values, participants clarify the value they can offer and the direction of their side job.
Color WiTh's proprietary 'Side Job Extraction Sheet'
■ Self-Introduction Portfolio
Based on the content organized in the extraction sheet, participants will create a self-introduction portfolio that drops their strengths and expertise into a 'communicable form' to deliver value to third parties. By verbalizing 'areas where they can contribute' and 'value they can provide' based on experience, they produce a practical output that can be used to acquire side job projects and participate in them.