Touring Mystery-Solving Booklet "Shin-Nagata Shopping Street Mystery ~A Father's Left-Behind Notebook~" to be Released on Tuesday, March 31!

Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Inc. (Representative Director and President: Ken Togashi, abbreviated as Nippan) will begin selling the touring mystery-solving booklet "Shin-Nagata Shopping Street Mystery ~A Father's Left-Behind Notebook~" (hereinafter, "this booklet"), set in six shopping streets around JR Shin-Nagata Station (Nagata Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture), at bookstores in the Kobe area from Tuesday, March 31, 2026.

This booklet was produced and will be sold in cooperation with the Kobe City Urban Development Bureau, in response to Kobe City's initiatives to revitalize the area around JR Shin-Nagata Station, with the aim of further revitalization and creating vibrancy.

■ Background and Purpose

Nippan has previously undertaken various projects in collaboration with Kobe City, with the aim of promoting regional revitalization and book culture in Kobe. These include implementing a mystery-solving experience project at Kobe Kitano Ijinkan, opening "Hontasu Shinkobe," a fully unmanned bookstore in the previously bookstore-less Shin-Kobe Station area, and issuing "zine KOBE," a booklet containing a touring mystery-solving game around Kobe and literary works themed on various Kobe spots, as part of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' "FY2025 Promotion Project for Utilizing Written and Printed Cultural Resources."

The Shin-Nagata area, the setting for this booklet, is a region where the culture of a "reconstruction city" formed after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake coexists with the downtown culture that existed before the earthquake. It is also an area expected to become a new hub for cultural dissemination and further vibrancy.

The Shin-Nagata Shopping Street Mystery project has been advanced with the cooperation of Kobe City, including adjustments with the touring spots that serve as the mystery's stage, issuing exclusive coupons for businesses and restaurants within the area, and disseminating information to project participants.

Through this project, Nippan aims to expand similar initiatives to other areas within the city and develop them into regular events in the future, continuing to collaborate with Kobe City to contribute to regional revitalization and the creation of vibrancy.

■ Features of the Touring Mystery-Solving Booklet "Shin-Nagata Shopping Street Mystery"

① A touring experience that creates new discoveries across six shopping streets
By designing a route that visits six shopping streets around JR Shin-Nagata Station, we offer a touring experience where participants can enjoy and feel the charm of the entire area.

▼Mystery-solving spots *In order of touring route*
① Shin-Nagata Ichibangai Shopping Street
② Taishosuji Shopping Street
③ Rokkenmichi Shopping Street
④ Marugo Market
⑤ Honmachisuji Shopping Street
⑥ Nishikobe Center Gai

② Includes exclusive coupons for this project
In collaboration with five restaurants in the Shin-Nagata area, we will issue coupons that can only be used by those who purchase this booklet. By encouraging the use of local restaurants during breaks from solving mysteries, we aim to stimulate the local economy.

▼Coupon partner stores (total 5 stores) *In order of touring route*: Western Restaurant Jumbo (300 yen off orders of 2,500 yen (tax included) or more at its affiliated store "Jumbo Central"), Chizuruya Meat Shop (100 yen off fried food purchases of 1,000 yen (tax included) or more), Marugo spice up (100 yen off orders of 1,000 yen (tax included) or more), Patisserie de Roman (20 yen off one Tanuki Cake), Nishimura Kawauo-ten Shin-Nagata Main Store (10% discount on total purchase amount).

*Further details about this project and booklet will be announced sequentially on the official X account below.
"Shin-Nagata Shopping Street Mystery" Official X: https://x.com/nazo_shinnagata

■ Booklet Overview
・Title: "Shin-Nagata Shopping Street Mystery ~A Father's Left-Behind Notebook~"
・Sales Period: March 31, 2026 (Tuesday) - September 30, 2026 (Wednesday)
・Price: 2,200 yen (tax included)
・Specifications: A5 size, 12 pages
・Contents: Mystery-solving booklet, simple plastic pencil, envelopes (2 types)
・Estimated Time: Approximately 3-4 hours
・Story:
I, who had been spending my days aimlessly without working,
one day lost my father, who was the president of a certain company.
While tidying up his study, I found a notebook with two envelopes tucked inside.
It contained "mysteries" that could be solved by touring the Shin-Nagata area, which my father loved.
I feel that something my father left behind is hidden in this notebook.
With the notebook in hand, I set out into the streets of Shin-Nagata.
What will be the "message from my father" that appears at the end, once all mysteries are solved?

■ How to Experience the Mystery
① Purchase the booklet at a participating bookstore.
② Add the official LINE account listed in the booklet as a friend.
③ Tour the city according to the booklet's story, solve the mysteries, and send answers via LINE.
④ Correctly answering the final mystery clears the game, and you can obtain an exclusive image.

■ Sales Locations *Alphabetical order*: Kikuya Bookstore Kita-Kobe Store, Junkudo Bookstore Sannomiya Ekimae Store, Kikuya Bookstore Kobe Gakuen Toshi Store, Junkudo Bookstore Sannomiya Store, Kikuya Bookstore Kobe Kitamachi Store, Junkudo Bookstore Maiko Store, Kikuya Bookstore Kobe Minami Store, Hontasu Shinkobe, Kikuya Bookstore Suma Patio Store, Honya Rocantan, Kikuya Bookstore Tokyu Plaza Shin-Nagata Store, FUTABA+ Purico Tarumi Store, Kikuya Bookstore Seishin Chuo Store, Yurindo Kobe Hankyu Store, Junkudo Bookstore Akashi Store.

■ Inquiries regarding this matter
Nippon Shuppan Hanbai Inc. Chubu/Kansai Branch General Affairs Department, Contact: Murata, Morimoto
TEL.06-6343-3820／E-mail：kansai_areamarket@nippan.co.jp