Taiko no Tatsujin: Musical Literacy in the Media Mix

Taiko no Tatsujin is examined as a case study in the Japanese media mix, where the rhythm-game franchise combines anime, J-pop, and geemu ongaku (video game music) with the performance culture of traditional taiko drumming. The central argument is that playing the game draws on a form of "game musical literacy" that goes beyond the functional decoding of gameplay cues, which earlier scholarship on digital games has emphasized. Instead, the author proposes that the franchise cultivates a broader musical literacy that combines media literacy and ludic literacy with knowledge of communal musical practice, framed through Christopher Small's concept of "musicking."

The analysis places particular weight on taiko as a communal, secularized "new folk performing art." The game's design references the chū-daiko drum, its physical gestures, and the festive atmosphere of matsuri, with imagery such as the yagura bandstand reinforcing these associations. To illustrate this connection between the game and lived festival culture, the author draws on an account of attending a Tokyo Bon Odori festival, suggesting that the game's sense of authenticity arises from evoking the wider social and performative context of taiko rather than from any single genre of composition.

The study's principal conclusion is that Taiko no Tatsujin operates across two cultural tracks at once: media-mix music drawn from anime, J-pop, and game soundtracks, and the traditions of taiko practice. Its scope is primarily Japanese, centered on a franchise that has circulated through arcade and home platforms, and the argument's time frame reflects the game's established presence within the media mix. The author concludes that musical literacy in digital games should be analyzed through the many musicking practices connected to game culture, offering a framework that extends beyond any single mediascape.