There’s been an interesting trend in Japanese arcades in the past few years, at least in the Tokyo area. Taiko no Tatsujin has always had a stranglehold in these places, a rhythm game with a unique appeal that stretches from the hardcores with their own drumsticks playing Touhou and Vocaloid hits to the school friends, couples and tourists playing a simple pop song. That’s helped the game reach families of all ages, find success on consoles, everywhere. You’ll even find tourists enamoured on their trips between crane games trying their hand.

To cater to these tourists, there’s been a substantial rise in English-language arcade machines for Taiko no Tatsujin in Japanese arcades. Go to Shibuya, Ikebukuro, Akihabara, any major tourist hub in central Tokyo, you’ll find them. They even support the BanaPassport for saving costumes and scores. However, while they’re open to everyone with the same song lineup and I’ve watched Japanese players use them when other machines are full, they exist to welcome an international audience that is finally embracing the unique rhythm game.

For those unaware, Taiko no Tatsujin initially launched in arcades in early 2001. The appeal of the game in arcades was its massive taiko drum controller, which players would hit in time to everything from modern pop hits to songs from Bandai’s own library, classical songs and more in order to achieve the best score. Notes would appear either red or blue on the rhythm chart, coinciding either with the center of the drum or the rim respectively that players would hit in order to maintain their combo. Attached to the machine are two round drumsticks that players could use, but anyone could also bring their own controllers if they pleased.

The game was a near-instant hit. With new updates in arcades complete with new song lists roughly every 6 months over the first couple years, it didn’t take long to see the games make the jump to consoles with a PS2 release in late-2002. The appeal of the game in arcades was its massive controller, and naturally the attempt to bring it into the home would require the game to be downsized. This was also at a time when a number of these tentpole rhythm arcade games were making the jump to home consoles and handhelds. Konami’s beatmania series made the jump to PlayStation and other hardware during this era, and as a result required the company translate the game’s multi-button and DJ deck disc control scheme into its own custom controller that could be packaged with the game.

This is the same approach taken by Taiko no Tatsujin, which created a miniature version of the controller that could be bundled with the game. While it’s also possible to play the game with a standard controller using the face and shoulder buttons attached to actions upon hitting the drum, a control the scheme that has certainly made the game more accessible to multiplayer and handheld devices then and in subsequent years versus the cost of two drum controllers, the drum controller was the intended way to play. This, too, was a big hit, selling over 500,000 units while continuing to sell hundreds of thousands with regular updates and sequels.

This was all without cannibalizing the arcade experience, in part because of the controller size, updating and differing song lists and joy of a communal experience (especially if you could grab a friend and play with two large drums on one screen) were hard to beat!

It became a natural next step to bring the series global, but expansion of the game was a far more troubled affair. The PS2 version of the game was localized with an all-original, Western-focused song-list in 2004, but even this seemed to lack much of the modern pop hits that made the game appealing to casual audiences in Japan. With only a few exceptions such as Britney Spears’ then-hit "Toxic", songs like "Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba or hits from The Jackson 5 and Queen were recognizable hits but old songs, and sales slumped into the thousands globally with the high cost of the controller for a new IP and unusual concept putting off many potential players.

Most damning of all about the attempted international release of the renamed Taiko Drum Master was that, in an attempt to transform the game for a global audience, it lost its musical identity. Despite positive reviews, it was unclear what audience the game was made for: the casual family being asked to stump for a drum to play "ABC", or the younger player who may not care for 80s hits, but sure would know the English Dragon Ball Z or Jimmy Neutron theme songs?

Taiko no Tatsujin enjoyed its continued reign in arcades and countless console releases in Japan, while standing as a mere curio for tourists to the country fascinated by the continued popularity of arcade gaming to fumble through for a bit of fun. Discussions on import forums may rise, and perhaps a few independent stores could have worked hard to import a machine from the other side of the globe to hold in their shop for customers.

Interest, in turn, came from an outlooker’s curiosity on this very Japanese phenomenon, wrapped in the curious pseudo-orientalist lens of weirdness that much of culture from the country was viewed through before the increasingly-mainstreamed modern image of Japan. Those who remained interested in the Japanese releases of Taiko no Tatsujin were interested in it because it was a Japanese arcade game, a Japanese rhythm game with the Japanese songs they loved. Rather than an attempt at Westernizing for mainstream appeal, increased interest in Japanese pop culture made its uniquely-Japanese traits and roots in taiko drumming an asset, not a liability.

How does that bring us to English-language machines in Japanese arcades? By bringing English arcade machines to the world.

For all Taiko no Tatsujin failed on its first attempt at global expansion, hardcore niche interest and its ever-presence in Japanese arcades kept intrigue into the franchise enough for the company to make a new attempt in 2014. This began with official exports of the machines to East Asian countries like Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea with support for record saving using BanaPassport, albeit on a separate instance to the Japanese versions of the game. Despite not being localized beyond Japanese these were their own official releases in each region, with some songs removed for licensing restrictions.

Success in arcades made this a yearly tradition, and even the console games followed. Taiko no Tatsujin: V Version for Playstation Vita released in Taiwan and Hong Kong with localized menus and some region-exclusive songs. In a notably different approach to that first PS2 game and more in line with the recent arcade releases, rather than creating a localized bespoke song list the aim was to appeal to fans with an identical, authentic experience. By only removing songs with licensing roadblocks and adding new songs to make up the shortfall this no longer felt like an afterthought but a fully-fledged experience.

International expansion was in sight. Console games were translated into English starting with Drum 'n' Fun in 2018 bringing the series to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox. The game was sold initially without the drums to keep costs low and many choose to play the game with just controller, but drums are available as an optional purchase. Song lists embrace Japanese anime themes and J-pop at a time when anime is bigger than ever that has broadened interest in general pop culture.

Then came the arcade machines. Some English-localized machines made their way to Australia in 2022, and these machines made their way officially to North America last month. Taiko no Tatsujin has been embraced globally, and even those who don’t play it are more familiar with the series.

With all this context in mind, it makes sense to see tourist hotspots bringing English-language machines into Japanese arcades. Tourist numbers coming to Japan have reached new heights, and intrigue in Japanese arcades has never left. An English-language machine will be somewhat more welcoming to an American tourist over an all-Japanese maimai machine blasting music at you in its washing machine-esque configuration and controls that, while simple to understand, look intimidating from first glance.

It’s been a transformation in fortunes for the series. Never unpopular, especially in Japan, but a false start on its first attempt at an international release saw the game fumble where titles like Dance Dance Revolution found much quicker success. Now, such is a testament to the game’s success, there’s not even a language barrier if you stumble into a Japanese arcade with an intent to try it out for yourself. After you play there, you can play it in a bunch of languages from just about anywhere, whether your phone, a Nintendo Switch or your PC.

Even the Taiko no Tatsujin championships can call themselves a truly global affair now. This is Taiko’s world. We’re just living in it.