No.11 surprised us with a surprise Wednesday blog entry... to the point of us getting around to cover it only on the day after! Nevertheless, what awaits us after the jump are a nunber of photos snapped by the Taiko Team reps at last week's yearly return of the Japan Amusement Expo.
As expected in these events, free-to-play Taiko cabs were available for the general audience to try! In light of the (sadly ongoing) ALL.Net system suspension, however, these were set for offline-only play.
The Taiko no Tatsujin corner also held a photoshoot corner, ideal for getting drum-flavored anniversary memorabilia for kids and adults alike! Etou was also available at certain times of the day for group photos.
For this Amusement Expo edition, one of the Ikebukuro shopping center's NAMJATOWN theme parks was installed as an event-only external outing: the Don to Dekkai Omatsuri Da-Don (ドーンとでっかいお祭りだドン)! Truly a way to get things moving even outside the conventional game center setup.
For this Amusement Expo edition, one of the Ikebukuro shopping center's NAMJATOWN theme parks was installed as an event-only external outing: the Don to Dekkai Omatsuri Da-Don (ドーンとでっかいお祭りだドン)! Truly a way to get things moving even outside the conventional game center setup.
The star of today's blog entry was a photo-based recounting of the yearly AMUSEMENT MUSIC FES concert, linking all music-game-affine artists for a joint concerto!
The header image is enough to tell about the coming of Linda AI-CUE, appearing for the Taiko segment's beginning with playbacks of assorted 2000-series songs.
A giant Don-chan costume (with familiar feline and wooden riders on top) were also waddling around for a good portion of the concert overall! Here they are, in a clearer backstage shot taken right before their stage landing.
Like for the last year, however, the overall stage DJ ringmaster on the Bandai Namco side was non other than Licht/Rihito Tsuboi! Amidst a succession of varying Namco Originals, his DJ set was also burning for music from the Wangan Midnight franchise, segueing into the first-time announcement of a third playable Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune medley coming out for worldwide Nijiiro cabs, at a later date.
Another returning quirk from last year's FES concert is some AI navigator help from the year 2765, although Machina the DARK wasn't up for an encore... so the original Machina it is!
The AI Battle Performance mode's host character was invited, singing not only her Yell-Ex signature song but also Kimi to Hibiku Harmony. Not only that, we also got some guest duet action from the Taito crowd, with voice actress Moe Toyota joining the stage to sing with Machina the iconic LINK LINK FEVER!!!, the theme song for Groove Coaster's third major arcade iteration.
More guest DJs have also appeared, with the two that currently are the final face of the Tatsujin Ranking Dojo's nightmares: t+pazolite and Camellia, which were also joined by vocalist Nanahira in video form.
Much like for the Wangan Midnight corner, this also meant a Taiko-first scoop for the concert goers! Camellia and Nanahira's Bassline Yatteru? w (ベースラインやってる？笑) would be joining nationwide Nijiiro Version cabs soon, under the Variety genre (and by 'soon', I mean today!)
Among the songs Nanahira was summoned to sing for, we have the 25th-anniversary-opnener Re:Play!! ... for which we've had another fond return as an in-person singing manner: Yoko Takamitsu! You bet your drum rims she also sang the always-popular Angel Dream, in the mix.
The last reveal nugget came in form of quite the unique announcement on the Bandai Namco front: the issuing of a dedicated DJ Set event, set on February 20th next year! More details about the so-dubbed Taiko no Tatsujin Dodon ga DJ Festival 2027 (太鼓の達人 ドドンガDJフェスティバル2027) will be unveiled as the date approaches.
For everyone who couldn't join the fun in person, a video-form rerun playback option is available for Internauts across the globe; best of all, it's not a paid affair for this year, either! The entire live is available at JAIA's YouTube channel at this link, up until November 20th. Be sure to keep an eye at the other participating parties' portion, too- there's enough Don-Chan to share for everyone, after all!
One last, LAST tidbit to discuss was left for this very blog entry: the final Taiko no Tatsujin livestream for 2026! We're going to have another Friday broadcast next month, on December 11th, with the complementary Quesant form (JP only) for arcade-related questions to be read.
Official Links
Taiko no Tatsujin Official Blog (2026/11/12)
Dec 11th Livestream - Quesant Form
