Can a Story Save a Village of 500 People? New Documentary Explores Immersive Entertainment x Regional Revitalization / Documentary Media SisiDen

SisiDen, a documentary media operated by Shishi Creation Co., Ltd., released a documentary on June 9, 2026, following the challenges of Immersive Lab Co., Ltd., a company that plans, develops, and operates experience-based content combining immersive entertainment, tourism, and DX.

The stage is Tabayama Village in Yamanashi Prefecture, with a population of about 500. In this village, which saw almost no tourists during winter, Immersive Lab closely documented 'Feast of the Wolves,' an experience that sublimates local folklore into immersive entertainment.

Can an experience where participants become 'characters' rather than 'spectators' of a story create new flows of people to the region, transforming tourists from transient visitors into 'related population' who maintain a lasting interest in the area?

This film explores the new possibilities stories can bring to rural areas through the boundless curiosity of Yuto, Chief Creative Officer of Immersive Lab, and his efforts to confront operational challenges.

The stage is Tabayama Village, Yamanashi Prefecture, population approximately 500.

The inspiration comes from the childhood experiences of 'Yuto,' Chief Creative Officer of Immersive Lab.

This aligns with the Japan Tourism Agency's support for tourism content utilizing 'regional resources.'

In small, depopulating areas, stably attracting tourists is difficult, and seasonal demand fluctuations pose a challenge to the local economy. The Japan Tourism Agency supports the creation of tourism content using regional resources to stabilize tourism demand through sustainable regional attraction.

According to Business Research Insights, the global murder mystery game market is projected to reach $180 million USD in 2026 and $300 million USD by 2035, with a CAGR of 6% from 2026 to 2035.

The same report predicts that the market share of murder mystery games in the Asia-Pacific region will further expand, driven by consumer spending on leisure activities like entertainment and games, population growth, rising income levels, R&D investment by key players, and technological development.

Furthermore, a report by Coherent Market Insights predicts that in the global murder mystery game market in 2025, North America will hold the largest share at 35.8%, followed by the Asia-Pacific region at 29.0%.

Domestically, the murder mystery market is also expanding as an emerging field. Game Makers estimates that in Japan, there are over 3,000 works, an active population of about 50,000, an estimated market size of approximately 1 billion yen, and a recognition rate of about 19%.

The stage of this film is Tabayama Village, population about 500, with its wolf folklore.

Can this become a new measure for regional revitalization?

On the other hand, the business model for immersive entertainment is still being established. 'Immersive Fort Tokyo,' which operated as one of Japan's largest immersive entertainment facilities, closed on February 28, 2026. The operator, Katana Co., cited a strong demand bias towards deep, limited-participant experiences over light, large-group experiences, and the excessive scale of the facility as reasons for closure.

While there are expectations for a growth market, it is becoming clear that large-scale facility investment models alone are difficult to sustain. Therefore, this film focuses on the challenge of Immersive Lab, which utilizes local folklore in Tabayama Village to create experiential value with a small start.

The film closely documents 'Feast of the Wolves,' an entertainment experience set in Tabayama Village.

General participants immerse themselves as characters in their own costumes.

Rather than relying on large-scale investment, the approach is to decipher the folklore, landscapes, history, and memories of the people sleeping in the region and reconstruct them as entertainment. If people gather for this experience, eat locally, stay overnight, revisit, and become part of the 'related population,' then stories could become a new engine for the local economy.

This documentary records the intersection of seasonal fluctuations in tourism demand in depopulated areas, the growing narrative-participation entertainment market in Asia, and the potential of a new regional revitalization model that 'starts small and circulates the local economy.'

Comment from SisiDen Producer Tsukahara

Yoshiko Tsukahara, Representative Director of Shishi Creation, serves as producer and narrator for all SisiDen works.

Ambition is born from curiosity

What first overwhelmed me during this interview was Yuto's extraordinary curiosity. He himself is captivated by the charm of this entertainment and is driven purely by the desire to 'create something interesting.'

However, curiosity alone is not enough to make entertainment a viable business. It requires story design, operations, team structure, meticulous relationship-building with the community, and profitability. Immersive Lab is turning passion into experience, into business, and returning value to the region by balancing both sides. Their approach embodies the 'ambitious person' that SisiDen aims to portray. I am grateful for the opportunity to cover their story.

About Immersive Lab

Immersive Lab Co., Ltd.

Mission: 'Creating next-generation entertainment experiences.' An entertainment creative group that continues to create a new era of entertainment where the extraordinary blends into everyday life, allowing anyone to access entertainment anytime.

Official HP ▶ https://immersivelab.jp/

Official X ▶ https://x.com/immersivelabinc

Contact: info@immersivelab.jp

About the Distributed Work

■ Work Overview

Title: Can Immersion Create a 'Reason to Come' to a Winter Village with No Tourists?

Distribution: YouTube Documentary Media 'SisiDen'

https://www.youtube.com/@SisiDen_official

Link: https://youtu.be/8Oud4adFEHE?si=hTFT9qKr6xVgnr

Production: Shishi Creation Co., Ltd.

Staff: Producer Yoshiko Tsukahara / Director Yoji Mogi

Interview Cooperation: Immersive Lab Co., Ltd. / Tabayama Tourism Promotion Organization / TABA CAFE

Bridge of Insight: Tetsuya Kawakami, Representative of Shonan Story Branding Laboratory

About Shishi Creation Co., Ltd.

Representative Director: Yoshiko Tsukahara

Location: 15F Mita NN Building, 4-1-23 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Established: June 3, 2024

Business: Documentary media operation, corporate recruitment PR documentary video production, SNS management, comprehensive branding support

URL: https://sisicreation.com/

[Contact for this release]

Shishi Creation Co., Ltd. Public Relations

Email: pr@sisicreation.com