[Creative Award 2026 Entry] Afterword - The story continues to the next town. -

I am Jack Kate Yeoh,
living in Akita while helping with regional development and winery work.

Thank you very much for reading the "Jack Kate Yeoh Regional Revitalization Short Story Collection: Kita-Akita Chapter 1" to the end.

This story is a work of fiction. However, it weaves in many of the thoughts of the people I have met in the region, the challenges I have felt while living in rural areas, and hopes for the future.

Starting from Episode 1, "The Day the Last Bus Stopped Coming," to Episode 5, "The Young People Who Returned to the Village," I have depicted the future of a region through themes such as regional transportation, community hubs, migration and settlement, challenges faced by the elderly, and the concept of 'related populations'.

There is no special magic to regional revitalization.

There are people who care about the region, people who empathize with those feelings, and little by little, the number of allies grows.

I believe that this accumulation of efforts is what changes the future of a region.

And this story does not end here.

Kenichi Sato, who was born in Kita-Akita; Yuma Sasaki, who chose his father's hometown of Kita-Akita as the stage for his challenges; and Shoichi Takahashi, who grew a small-town factory in Gifu into a publicly traded company—these three will now travel to various regions, using their newly established company, Banhouse LLC, as their base.

What the company values is

the philosophy of 'Connecting with the region, connecting people, and bridging the two.'

that approach.

Rather than solving regional issues from the outside, they aim to think together with the local people and build the future by drawing out the power that already exists within the region.

That is the kind of regional development they are aiming for.

In the next story, the three of them will face new regional challenges together with all of you.

Population decline, vacant houses, shopping support, agriculture, employment, tourism, and labor shortages—.

The challenges differ depending on the region.

However, there are always people there, there is life, and there is hope for the future.

Where is the next town they will visit?

What kind of people will they meet, and what kind of challenges will they face?

And what kind of future will we paint?

I would be happy if I could walk that new story together with all of you again.

The small story of regional revitalization that began in Kita-Akita will continue from here on.

Let us meet again in the next town.

Jack Kate Yeoh

▽ If Kenichi and the others had really started a company...
I have included a business card born from that imagination at the end.