Gameplay
Symbols moving horizontally along a timeline show what to hit and when. Home versions distinguish single and double strikes, arcade versions hard and soft strikes.

In the Japanese version, subtitles under the symbols give the pronunciation of the sounds (for example, "do don do don") using a traditional system called kuchi shoga.

While its appearance may seem cute, it is actually quite difficult: player need to accomplish 75% of the drum chart to pass, and its harder levels (hard and Oni mode) and modifier (eg: hidden mode) will require much skill and chart recognization.

Successful play builds up a life meter, and if the meter is past a certain point by the end of the song, the song is passed.

How To Play

-Bang (Japanese:ドン, read as "don")
a small red note, hit the surface of Taiko Drum

-Tap (Japanese:カッ, read as "ka")
a small blue note, hit the edge of the Taiko Drum

-Bang(big)(Japanese:ドン（大）, read as "don dai")
a big red note, hit the both side of the Taiko Drum at the same time and a point will be higher.

-Tap(big)(Japanese:カッ（大）, read as "ka dai")
a big blue note, hit the left side and right side of edge of the Taiko Drum and a point will be higher.

-Drum roll (Japanese:連打, read as "ren da")
a yellow note, hit the surface or the edge of the Taiko Drum continuously when a note is overlapped with the frame.

-Drum roll(big)(Japanese:連打（大）, read as "ren da dai")
a big yellow note, hit the surface or edge of the Taiko Drum continuously when a note is overlapped with the frame.

-Balloon note (Japanese:風船音符, read as "fusen onpu")
a red note with a balloon, hit the surface of the Taiko Drum the number of times which is shown on the screen continuously until the balloon note blow up. Extra mark will be given when the balloon note blow up.

-Yam note (Japanese:お芋音符, read as "oimo onpu")
similarly function with balloon note, but during two player mode it is a 2 player's simultaneous note(both players contribute to it) . In Taiko 8, extra mark will be given after eating, 5000 marks for shorter time, 1000 marks for longer time, 0 mark for incomplete eating.

-Two-player simultaneous note (Japanese:手つなぎ音符, read as "tetsunagi onpu)
a big red note with 2 hands which appear in 2 player mode, both player have to hit the surface of the Taiko Drum at the same time. Extra mark will be given when the players hit this note simultaneously