New Taiko no Tatsujin Nijiiro cabs being set up in various arcades in the Philippines on March 2026 (pictured: Quantum Greenhills Mall, San Juan City and Q Power Station, Power Plant Mall in Makati City)
It has been a long, tumultuous journey for the non-Japanese Taiko scene to get to this level of availability. The Philippines, one of the last major countries in South East Asia with an arcade scene but no Taiko, has finally gotten a large batch of Nijiiro cabs of their own. From the information I have been given, they're mostly centered around Metro Manila, but if anyone here is reading from the Philippines, well. It's been 3000 years. Very glad to have more people be able to access the game. Congratulations to the community and have fun!
Things weren't always like this for the game if you didn't live in Japan. It was one of those rare, niche games with a few recognizable songs that sometimes caught the attention of outsiders for a week or so, before being forgotten again because it was just not possible to play. There were offline (refurbished) cabs up to Taiko 14 being shipped out of the country to places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and some scattered places in South East Asia (mostly Malaysia and Singapore), and the communities were small but dedicated. Under that environment was when this blog was created, actually.
Then came the online era of the game in 2010 and the landscape shifted overnight.
