July 3, 2026
TOKYO – Popular Japanese drumming game series “Taiko no Tatsujin” is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, with an astonishing library of about 3,000 pieces of music having been featured over the years.
The game’s concept is simple enough for anyone to play: strike a wadaiko Japanese drum with bachi drumsticks to the beat of your favorite music. It has captured the hearts of people of all ages, from children to the elderly. “Taiko no Tatsujin” means “taiko drum master.”
Development of the game dates back to around 2000, when the music game market was in its heyday, dominated by edgy, cool music featuring DJing and dancing.
The development team at what was then Namco was working on its own music game. One of the members who came up with the initial idea was Takehito Sasaoka of what is now Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc. He had worked as a development producer and simply wondered if it would be fun to beat a drum in time to music.
To test the idea, he stuck tape to the bottom of a large plastic bucket and struck it along with music using some sticks he happened to find nearby.
“It was incredibly fun,” Sasaoka said, revealing the moment that sparked the game’s creation.
“At festival venues, people often beat drums with J-pop and anime music playing in the background, so people are somewhat familiar with the combination [of wadaiko and pop music],” Sasaoka said, indicating why he was confident that the project would succeed. With that in mind, he and his team set about developing a prototype machine.
While being sure to keep the noise in the office to a minimum, the team went through a process of trial and error. The result was a system in which players strike the drum in time with red and blue notes that are displayed on a screen.
The team based their drum machine on a real Japanese drum measuring 1 shaku 6 sun (48 centimeters) and angled two drums so two players could see each other while playing together. They also tried to find the perfect thickness and weight for the bachi drumsticks.
“The sticks are a bit heavy for children, but a certain amount of weight is necessary to make the drum easier to strike, so we carefully considered the balance,” Sasaoka said.
Taiko no Tatsujin™Series & ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
“My bachi” drumsticks
He noted, however, that advanced players prefer thinner, lighter sticks, which led the company to release official personal “My bachi” drumsticks.
Huge queues at test
The project faced a major hurdle from within the company: With the music game boom already beginning to fade, sales executives argued that another title in the genre would have no hope of selling.
The team spent time persuading the department until they finally managed to arrange a test. In the summer of 2000, they set up a prototype at an amusement facility in Yokohama to see if customers would actually spend their money to play.
The test turned out to be a massive success, with long lines forming in front of the machine.
“It turned out that everyone really wanted to beat a drum,” Sasaoka said.
Witnessing the overwhelming success of the test, the company officially gave the green light to commercialize the game.
On Feb. 21, 2001, “Taiko no Tatsujin” made its official debut. Long lines quickly became a common sight at arcades across the country, cementing the game’s status as an instant smash hit.
Multilingual support
When a home console version was released in 2002 along with a dedicated drum-shaped controller, allowing players to drum at home, stores repeatedly sold out. The home console series has since gone on to sell more than 13 million copies.
The game’s popularity has spread worldwide, with more than 5,000 arcade cabinets operating in Japan and more than 1,900 units overseas.
Hidetoshi Sato of Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. said that offering in-game multilingual support has been a major factor in the series’ success. While the game was initially popular mainly in Japan and the rest of Asia, the Nintendo Switch version released in 2018 became a huge hit in the United States. Smartphone versions are also performing well.
Success abroad, however, did not happen overnight. A team focused on overseas operation initially faced an uphill battle in introducing the culture of wadaiko drumming to an international audience.
According to Sato, while the basics of wadaiko drumming are common knowledge in Japan, striking the rim of a drum is a concept rarely seen overseas. The team therefore had to explain how to play in detail, which forced them to navigate a significant cultural gap where what was taken for granted at home was new abroad.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary, a special project is currently underway to give the game’s main character, Don-chan, everything they have ever wanted. Don-chan’s whims include becoming a music producer and having some major makeovers, getting various artists to redesign Don-chan’s look.
Misuzu Notsu of Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., who is working on the project, said she hopes fans will look forward to what each month brings, as they will be treated to many fresh and different faces of Don-chan.
How to play: Hit notes to fill gauge
Players begin by selecting their favorite piece of music and difficulty level (see the left image). As notes flow across the screen, the players have to hit the right part of the drum in time — striking the face for a red note and the rim for a blue note (see the right image). Successful hits fill the “Soul Gauge.” If the gauge exceeds the required quota by the end of the music, the player clears the challenge.