Regional Matching Service 'Sumout' Launches '47 Prefectures: The Quirky Persona Picture Book' on June 4

Sumout, a platform for connecting with regions operated by Kayac Inc. (Headquarters: Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture; CEO: Daisuke Yanagisawa; TSE Growth: 3904), launched a special content piece titled '47 Prefectures: The Quirky Persona Picture Book' on Thursday, June 4.

This content is based on the aggregation and analysis of 132 types of '#tag' data representing regional characteristics, desired personas, and occupations, which were set for projects (a total of 4,884) published on Sumout in 2025 (January 1 to December 31, 2025). Based on the '#tags' with a high weight in each prefecture, Sumout has created catchy phrases for personas that seem to be a good match, using its own unique interpretation.

'For some reason, popular with the elderly (Akita Prefecture / #Likes the elderly)', 'You're always called when a friend moves (Wakayama Prefecture / #A little help)', 'Definitely a fish person over meat (Miyagi Prefecture / #Fisheries)' — The content expresses personas for all 47 prefectures with illustrations, some that you might relate to and others that make you want to say 'Does that person even exist!?'. From the perspective of 'affinity imagination', it creates encounters with unexpected regions and triggers the creation of a 'related population'.

Key Points of the Project
(1) Imagines personas that seem compatible with each of the 47 prefectures, expressed with witty copy and illustrations.
(2) As you find yourself thinking 'Oh, that might be me' or 'Does that person exist?', you naturally become interested in that region.
(3) Direct access to 'real current recruitment' in regions you're interested in.

Expressing 'Compatible Personas' in Sumout's Style
132 types of '#tags' used on Sumout, such as '#Likes the elderly', '#Fisheries', '#Vacant houses', and '#Business succession', were aggregated and analyzed for each of the 47 prefectures. The characteristics of the '#tags' with high usage in each prefecture were replaced with easy-to-imagine personas and expressed with catchy copy and illustrations.
*This is not an official job requirement of the region, but an 'affinity proposal' imagined by Sumout based on data.

Example: [Akita Prefecture] 'For some reason, popular with the elderly' / #Likes the elderly

How to Use the Picture Book: Encounter New Regions Through Two Pathways
This content displays two buttons for each prefecture: '#tag' and 'Real current recruitment in XX Prefecture'. Clicking these buttons allows users to access project information such as regional jobs and events currently being recruited on Sumout.
- '#tag' button -> Leads to a list of nationwide recruitments with the same '#tag'.
- 'Real current recruitment in XX Prefecture' button -> Leads to a list of the latest recruitments in that prefecture.
These two pathways create unexpected encounters with regions.

Introduction of Quirky Personas (Excerpt)
You can see the 'Quirky Personas' for all 47 prefectures on the special site. Here, we introduce two prefectures, Wakayama and Hyogo, along with projects currently being recruited.

[Wakayama Prefecture] 'You're always called when a friend moves' / #A little help
In Wakayama Prefecture, which is Japan's top producer of mandarins, persimmons, and plums (2024), primary industries such as agriculture, fishing, and forestry, supported by the warm climate of the Kii Peninsula, sustain the region. There are many times during busy seasons when extra hands are needed, and there is a demand for short-term 'help' in various places. In recent years, more people are getting involved with regions as a 'related population' rather than through relocation or employment. This is a region that welcomes a gentle entry point, such as helping someone out first.

[Hyogo Prefecture] 'When I'm absorbed, I can't hear 'Dinner's ready'' / #Confident in concentration
In Hyogo Prefecture, which has a concentration of about 40 types of local industries, the Banshu abacus is a representative example of precision manufacturing, with many of its over 100 processes done by hand, accounting for about 70% of the domestic market share. Toyooka bags and Awaji Island incense sticks also boast top production scales in Japan. The attitude of paying attention to detail and concentrating on one thing is carried over into modern work.

Project Background
Japan faces serious nationwide challenges of population decline and an aging society. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' 'Report on Internal Migration Based on the Basic Resident Register', only 7 prefectures, including Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Saitama, saw a net inflow in 2025, while the remaining 40 prefectures all experienced a net outflow. Furthermore, a survey by Teikoku Databank showed that bankruptcies due to labor shortages in fiscal 2025 reached a record high of 441, about 1.3 times the previous year, and over 50% of companies feel a shortage of full-time employees. Securing human resources is an urgent issue for private companies in regions experiencing population outflow.

Against this backdrop, since its launch in 2018, Sumout has expanded its network to 1,194 registered regions and approximately 94,000 registered users (as of June 2026, including LINE friends), matching regions with people. The information disseminated daily by local governments and regional businesses reflects the 'desired personas' and 'welcomed values'.

Communication conveying regional appeal often centers on conditional appeals such as 'rich nature', 'easy to raise children', and 'relocation support available'. This content intentionally deviates from that approach, using data to express 'affinity proposals' that Sumout has freely imagined, with playful copy and illustrations. The aim is to broaden the gateway of interest in regions that people may not have been aware of, with a lighthearted tone of 'Hey, maybe this kind of person would fit in too!?'.