This is a video game mainstay in Japan. Any respectable arcade should have it. I don't personal love playing it, but I love that it's been around for over a decade and can still draw a crowd. There's something wonderfully symbolic about it. I don't have any statistics on this (so if anyone out there does, please let me know and fill me in) but it doesn't seem to me like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc. has caught on in Japan to the extent that it did in the U.S. I'm only basing this presumption on my experience--I know a bunch of people in the U.S. who have those games at home, but no one in Japan. But then, my old professor once told me that you need at least a thousand samples to make a statistic, and I definitely don't have that.
Anyway, what I like about the symbolism of Taiko no Tatsujin is that even though (I think) Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc. hasn't caught on here as much as it once did in the U.S., this game of traditional Japanese drums is not just in every decent arcade, it garners respect. I personally don't find it that interesting, but the guy who was playing it in Ikebukuro, Sunshine Doori, must have had some game for all these people to hang and watch. I also love the juxtaposition of traditional elements manifesting in modern entertainment. Keep it alive man!
And this is what it looks like from the perspective of the player:
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