Cultural Facility Turns into a 'Horror Escape Game'! Koyu Foundation Launches Experience-Based Program to Transform Shintomi Town Cultural Hall into an 'Earning Theater'

The Koyu Regional Development Promotion Organization (located in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture; Representative Director: Keiji Okamoto; hereinafter 'Koyu Foundation') will host an escape game-style event, 'Haunted Shintomi: Solve the Mystery of Lupinus Mirai Theater,' on June 7, 2026 (Sunday), at the Lupinus Mirai Theater (Shintomi Town Cultural Hall), which it will begin managing under a new contract from fiscal year 2026. The event maximizes the potential of the public facility. This event is a new project under the 'MIRISE' initiative, which aims to create '30 projects, 100 works, and 1,000 creative individuals per year' using the cultural hall as a base. It offers 'extraordinary experiences' that engage all five senses for local children and young people. [Features] Familiar facilities turn into another world! An original experience event combining escape games and immersive horror. For one day, the familiar local cultural facility transforms into a strange space wrapped in fear and mystery. The Koyu Foundation's MIRISE project has planned this completely original event, combining 'escape games' and 'immersive horror,' which have been gaining popularity among young people in recent years. It is an indoor entertainment experience that children and adults alike can get excited about, where you can taste the sense of achievement by solving puzzles and clearing missions in cooperation with your team, not just experiencing 'fear.' - Event Overview Title: 'Haunted Shintomi: Solve the Mystery of Lupinus Mirai Theater' Date/Time: June 7, 2026 (Sunday), 17:00–21:00 Venue: Lupinus Mirai Theater (Shintomi Town Cultural Hall) (7467 Oaza Kamitonda, Shintomi Town, Koyu District, Miyazaki Prefecture) Meeting Point: Shintomi Town General Exchange Center Kirari (3-minute walk to the venue) Participation Fee: 500 yen for elementary school students and below (accompanied by guardian); 1,000 yen for junior high school students and above (parental consent required for minors) Capacity: 8 teams of 5-6 people per group (requires prior reservation in 30-minute increments) Application Method: Application form --An abnormality has occurred at the Lupinus Mirai Theater. Can you rescue your friends within 30 minutes?-- A virus has spread through the Lupinus Mirai Theater. The manager has sent a rescue request, saying, 'My friends can't get out. Please help them!' The time limit is 30 minutes. Can you complete the missions of 'rescuing your friends' and 'installing surveillance cameras'? Future Prospects: Shifting from a rental-centered business to an 'Earning Theater.' Aiming for a new business model for regional revitalization. This event is part of the 'MIRISE Project' newly launched by the Koyu Foundation. The MIRISE Project is a town development project based at the Lupinus Mirai Theater with the goal of creating '30 projects and 1,000 creative individuals (= people who create value themselves in the community) per year.' Until now, local government-run cultural halls in Japan have mainly focused on 'rental' services, and have faced challenges in monetization through self-operated businesses and attracting young people. With the start of this new management contract, the Lupinus Mirai Theater will be redefined as a 'regional economic engine' that produces new content and talent. We are committed to improving resident satisfaction and cultivating 'creative' and 'connecting' talent to become a role model for new methods of utilizing public cultural facilities. About the Koyu Regional Development Promotion Organization (Koyu Foundation) Established by Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture, in April 2017, this is a regional trading company. It has been engaged in projects such as branding 'Shintomi Lychee' (1,000 yen per fruit), hometown tax (Furusato Nozei) business, and entrepreneurship training. In a town with a population of 15,000, total donations through hometown tax have reached 15 billion yen in the nine years since its establishment. It promotes 'town development where challenges circulate,' where migrants, including regional revitalization corps members, integrate into the town and new challenges are born one after another. Based on donations through the hometown tax, it reinvests a portion into the region and works to create value through the utilization of town resources and idle assets. While overlapping human potential and regional possibilities, it aims to create a mechanism where value is sustainably born.