Toyokumo Launches 'Kumapp' Service for Bear Sightings in Susono City

Toyokumo's New Initiative for Bear Sightings in Susono City

In light of the increasing bear sightings throughout Japan, ensuring residents' safety has become a pressing issue for municipalities. Toyokumo Inc., based in Shinagawa, Tokyo, has stepped up by deploying innovative solutions designed to tackle this challenge effectively in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture. The company has announced the launch of ‘Kumapp’, leveraging its Kintone integration services, FormBridge, and kViewer, to quickly publicize information regarding bear appearances.

Background: A Rising Concern Over Bear Sightings

Bear sightings have surged across the nation, prompting municipal governments to prioritize efficient communication of safety information. Recently, numerous reports of bears in Susono City led city officials to initially update information on the municipal website manually whenever sightings were reported. This labor-intensive method proved insufficient as the frequency of occurrences increased. Consequently, the local bear management department communicated their challenges to the Digital General Affairs section, which sought solutions that could guarantee a prompt response and improved reliability in managing the urgent information exchange.

The task at hand was to establish a cost-effective, reliable sharing mechanism, a significant challenge given the urgency and complexity of developing a dedicated system from scratch.

Swift Implementation with AI and No-Code Tools

On May 22, 2026, Susono City began exploring methods to implement a new system. Despite lacking specialized engineering personnel within the office, they swiftly combined Toyokumo’s Kintone integration services with generative AI, launching the first version (Ver1) of the system on the same day. This laid the groundwork for rapid dissemination of information on subsequent days, the 23rd and 24th.

The workflow is streamlined through several key innovations:

- FormBridge: This tool simplifies data entry for field personnel. Employees can use their smartphones to tap on maps, automatically capturing GPS coordinates via JavaScript generated by AI. It reduces the input burden and enhances reaction time.
- Kintone Database: Data entered is immediately registered in the Kintone database provided by Cybozu Inc. The Susono City framework incorporates security measures limiting external access, utilizing FormBridge as the front-end interface to facilitate secure data registration.
- kViewer: Accumulated data is linked and published automatically on Susono City's self-developed website, featuring an interactive map of bear sightings, through the external API of kViewer.

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Insights from the Digital Affairs Department

Yoshito Nakahara, from the Digital General Affairs section of Susono City, remarked, “We do not have specialized engineer staff here. However, by integrating generative AI with Toyokumo's flexible external API products, we were able to reflect the frontline staff's feedback in real-time, turning our discussions into a tangible system the same day.