Touhou Gensoukyou ~ Lotus Land Story

The first five games were developed for the Japanese PC-98 computer, with the first, Highly Responsive to Prayers, released in August 1997; the series' signature bullet curtain mechanics were introduced in the second game, Story of Eastern Wonderland (also 1997). The release of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil in August 2002 marked a shift to Microsoft Windows. Numerous sequels followed, including several spin-offs departing from the traditional shoot 'em up format. The Touhou Project is set in a preternatural land sealed from the outside world and primarily inhabited by humans and yōkai, legendary creatures from Japanese folklore that are personified entirely as young girls and women in an anthropomorphic ja-latn style. Reimu Hakurei, the miko of the Hakurei Shrine and the main character of the series, is often tasked with resolving supernatural "incidents" caused in and around Gensokyo; she is joined by Marisa Kirisame after the events of the second game. The Touhou Project has become more particularly notable as a prominent source of Japanese dōjin content, with the series spawning a vast amount of fan-made works such as artwork, music, print works, video games, and Internet memes. Because of this, it has gained a large cult following outside of Japan. The popularity of the series and its derivative works has been attributed in part to the few restrictions placed by ZUN on the use of his content. Unofficial works are frequently sold at fan conventions, including Comiket, where the franchise has frequently held the record for circle participation, and the official convention Reitaisai, where trial versions of the official games are typically distributed prior to release.

• Title — Touhou Project • Creator — Jun'ya Ōta ("ZUN") • Developer — * Team Shanghai Alice • Twilight Frontier • Publisher — Team Shanghai Alice • Genre — Bullet hell, Shoot 'em up, Fighting, Block breaker • Platforms — * PC-98 • Microsoft Windows • PlayStation 4 (Urban Legend in Limbo, Antinomy of Common Flowers) • Nintendo Switch (Antinomy of Common Flowers, Sunken Fossil World) • First Release Version — Highly Responsive to Prayers • First Release Date — August 15, 1997 (C52) • Latest Release Version — Fossilized Wonders • Latest Release Date — August 17, 2025 (C106)

• Illustration — Cover art for the first five Touhou Project games

Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, who was then a mathematics student at Tokyo Denki University working under the name "ZUN Soft", developed the first five Touhou Project games for the PC-98 computer, utilizing the platform's 16-bit color graphics and 6-channel FM synthesis audio. The games were published by Amusement Makers, a student game development club that ZUN was a member of. Highly Responsive to Prayers • Highly Responsive to Prayers • The first game in the series was released on August 15, 1997, at Comiket 52. ZUN began development in 1995 and first showcased the game in November 1996 at the 20th Hatoyama Matsuri, the annual fair held at the Hatoyama campus of Tokyo Denki University. It features the first appearance of series protagonist Reimu Hakurei, the miko of Hakurei Shrine (博麗神社 Hakurei Jinja). After the destruction of the shrine, she charges through a gateway to another world, intent on locating and punishing those responsible. It features gameplay similar to Arkanoid and differs from the vertically-scrolling format of later games. Players direct a Yin-Yang Orb (陰陽玉 Onmyō-gyoku) by side-kicking, swinging Reimu's purification rod (御幣 gohei), and firing amulets (御札 ofuda), with the goal of using it to overturn all the cards in a level. If the player runs out of time, bullets rain down from the top of the screen until the player either completes the level or dies. There are 20 stages, with every fifth stage being a battle where the player must use the orb to deal damage to a boss. After completing Stage 5, the player is given a choice between two routes, Makai (魔界, "Demon World") and Hell (地獄 jigoku), with each featuring distinct stages, bosses, and endings. It introduces the last-resort "Bomb" system, present in some form in all subsequent games, as well as the four levels of difficulty that would become hallmarks of the series: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Lunatic. According to ZUN, 30 copies of the game were sold. Story of Eastern Wonderland • Story of Eastern Wonderland • The second game in the series was released alongside Highly Responsive to Prayers at Comiket 52. Reimu Hakurei returns from a training session in the mountains only to find the Hakurei Shrine overrun by ghosts and yōkai. Excited at the opportunity to test her abilities, she takes off with her Yin-Yang Orbs on the back of her turtle Genjii to seek out the source of the invasion. It is the first vertically-scrolling danmaku (弾幕 "barrage", "bullet curtain") game and also marks the first appearance of Marisa Kirisame, the second major playable character in the series, who appears as the Stage 4 boss. ZUN has cited shoot 'em up arcade game Darius Gaiden as an influence for the gameplay, which consists of firing bullets at bosses that appear from the top of the screen while simultaneously dodging their attacks. It is the only game in the series with five stages (excluding the extra stage). The game introduces many features that have become standard, including weapon selection, hitboxes that are smaller than the player character, power-ups, mid-bosses, and an unlockable Extra Stage. Fifty copies of the game were sold. Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream • Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream • The third game in the series was released on December 29, 1997, at Comiket 53. While enjoying a quiet morning walk, Reimu Hakurei stumbles across mysterious ruins that have suddenly appeared a short distance from the Hakurei Shrine's gateway. She joins in a violent competition with several others who want to explore them, as it is said that the one who reaches the heart of the ruins first will win a prize. In Match Play Mode, it is a versus-type scrolling shooter similar to Twinkle Star Sprites, in which two players engage in danmaku battles in split-screen. In Story Mode, the player faces off against nine increasingly skilled AI opponents. The combat makes use of a "Spell Gauge", with characters unleashing attacks of varying strength based on their charged level of magical power. Approximately 100 to 150 copies of the game were sold. Lotus Land Story • Lotus Land Story • The fourth game in the series was released on August 14, 1998, at Comiket 54. The peace in Gensokyo (first used in this game's title) is broken when a tremendous energy surges from beneath a mountain lake, causing yōkai to swarm the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame travel to seek out and eliminate the source of the disturbance, battling yōkai along the way. It features six stages, with the game ending after Stage 5 if the player selects Easy difficulty or uses a "continue". A notable new feature is a "graze" counter for near-misses. According to ZUN, 200 to 300 copies of the game were sold. Mystic Square • "Bizarre Romantic Story" • The fifth and final Touhou Project game for the PC-98 system was released on December 30, 1998, at Comiket 55. When demons begin emerging from a cave high in the mountains of Gensokyo, Reimu Hakurei and others must travel to the depths of Makai to confront the one behind the incident. Mima and Yuuka, the final bosses of Story of Eastern Wonderland and Lotus Land Story respectively, return as playable characters along with Marisa Kirisame. The game contains six stages and includes a "Dream Gauge" system, which rewards the player for collecting items by clearing all enemy bullets when it is filled to maximum.

After the release of Mystic Square, ZUN graduated from university and the series became inactive for four years. During this time, he worked at Taito as a game developer and also composed music for various games created by members of Amusement Makers. He left the group in 2001 to focus on game development for Microsoft Windows, forming the one-man dōjin circle Team Shanghai Alice and self-publishing all subsequent games. According to ZUN, the Windows games represent a "clean slate" for the series canon, albeit with many carry-overs and references from the PC-98 era. Games numbered with decimals are spin-offs from the main series that vary in genre. • Embodiment of Scarlet Devil • The sixth game in the series and the first on Windows was released on August 11, 2002, at Comiket 62. It marked a dramatic graphical improvement from the PC-98 games, and the game's music and sounds used synthesized PCM and MIDI instead of FM synthesis. It introduces the "Spell Card" system, in which bosses fire danmaku patterns in a specific sequence as their health is depleted, with a health bar and unique name for each attack appearing on screen as it is used. For comparison, in the PC-98 games, boss characters would have a select few danmaku patterns that they would switch between at random. • A peaceful summer in Gensokyo is interrupted when an ominous scarlet mist blocks out the sun. As either the shrine maiden Reimu Hakurei or the magician Marisa Kirisame, the player must infiltrate the Scarlet Devil Mansion (紅魔館 Koumakan) and confront the mysterious Scarlet Devil that lives within. The game features the debut of Sakuya Izayoi, who would become a playable character in several sequels. • Several gameplay elements from the PC-98 era were revived in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, helping to establish a foundation that later Windows titles in the series would follow. One key feature is the selection of an attack style at the beginning of each game. This choice directly influences the character’s shot type—determining how their primary weapon behaves—as well as the nature and function of their Spell Card bomb, which serves as a powerful, screen-clearing ability in critical situations. A limited number of these "bombs" are provided as a method of escaping from difficult situations by dealing heavy damage to enemies, cancelling enemy bullets, and collecting all items on the screen. A notable feature added in this game and present in future main entries is Focused Fire mode, which allows the player to slow their movement and focus their shots when activated. The game features six increasingly difficult stages, with the boss of each stage being preceded by a less powerful "midboss". Playing on Easy difficulty causes the game to prematurely end after Stage 5, and completing the game after using a "continue" results in a bad ending. Once a good ending has been achieved on Normal or higher difficulty, the player unlocks a bonus "Extra Stage", which features the game's final boss battle. • On June 9, 2026, a remake of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil was announced under the title Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic ~ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. It is being developed by Team Shanghai Alice Reprise, a new development team helmed by ZUN to develop remakes of early Touhou titles. It will release for PC through Steam, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and Playstation 5 on September 9, 2026. It will be translated into 11 different languages, making it the first time any mainline Touhou title has been localised outside of Japan. • Perfect Cherry Blossom • The seventh installment in the series was released on August 17, 2003, at Comiket 64. As May arrives, it becomes clear that winter in Gensokyo has lasted far longer than usual. As Reimu, Marisa, or Sakuya, the player must embark on a trip to the Netherworld (冥界 Meikai, "Realm of the Dead") to find those responsible for stopping the coming of spring. With the addition of Sakuya, Perfect Cherry Blossom continues the series tradition of former bosses reappearing as playable characters. It also features a "Cherry Gauge", which is filled by grazing, shooting enemies, and completing Spell Cards without using bombs, which when full, activates a "Supernatural Border", giving the player a temporary shield. Alice Margatroid from Mystic Square makes her Windows debut in this game. As well as featuring an extra stage, the game also has an unlockable phantasm stage that can be accessed after the player clears the extra stage and has captured a certain amount of spell cards. • Immaterial and Missing Power • The 7.5th game in the series and the first versus fighting game released on December 30, 2004, at Comiket 67. It is a 2D fighting game with danmaku influences, as reflected by its heavy emphasis on Spell Card projectile attacks. As with all the official fighting games, it was primarily developed by Twilight Frontier, with ZUN providing scenarios, Spell Card designs, and several music tracks. Between the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom and Imperishable Night, a strange mist descends on Gensokyo as Reimu Hakurei and other residents find themselves inexplicably holding a feast every three days. Initial playable characters include Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, Alice, Youmu Konpaku from Perfect Cherry Blossom, and Patchouli Knowledge from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Additionally playable characters become unlocked as the player completes the initial scenarios. A local multiplayer mode is included, with an unofficial patch enabling netplay. • Imperishable Night • The eighth game in the series released on August 15, 2004, at Comiket 66. It is the eve of Gensokyo's yearly Harvest Moon Festival (月見 Tsukimi) when it is discovered that the moon has been replaced with a fake. Two-person teams of humans and yōkai set out into the Bamboo Forest of the Lost (迷いの竹林 Mayoi no Chikurin) to confront the culprits and restore the moon before the night is over. The four playable teams are the Illusionary Barrier Team (Reimu Hakurei and Yukari Yakumo), the Aria of Forbidden Magic Team (Marisa Kirisame and Alice Margatroid), the Visionary Scarlet Devil Team (Sakuya Izayoi and Remilia Scarlet), and the Netherworld Dwellers' Team (Youmu Konpaku and Yuyuko Saigyouji), with the player swapping between characters on a team by activating Focused Fire mode. It adds powerful "Last Word" Spell Cards for players and enemies, as well as "Time Orb" items that affect the story by changing the speed at which the night passes. • Phantasmagoria of Flower View • The ninth game in the series released on August 15, 2005, at Comiket 68. The game is a split-screen versus-type shooter similar to Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream. Spring has arrived and Gensokyo's flowers are blooming out of control, with even out-of-season varieties in full bloom. The player must battle their way through nine stages to reach Muenzuka (無縁塚, "(Burial) Mound of the Nameless") and reveal the truth behind the abnormal spring. Initial playable characters include Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, Youmu, and Reisen Udongein Inaba from Imperishable Night, with a total of 16 playable characters after all of them are unlocked. An official patch enabling multiplayer netplay has been released. • Shoot the Bullet • The 9.5th game in the series released on December 30, 2005, at Comiket 69. The game was originally created as a minigame to be included with the official fanbook Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, but was later developed into a full game. Playing as tengu reporter Aya Shameimaru, the player is tasked with photographing bosses and their danmaku in 10 increasingly difficult stages. The game is unique in that the player has no standard shot or bombs; rather, the camera is the main method of offense and defense, as it clears bullets from the screen when used. Scoring is based on the contents of each photo, including the amount and type of bullets included. The game features bosses from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil to Phantasmagoria of Flower View. • Mountain of Faith • The tenth game in the series released on August 17, 2007, at Comiket 72. This entry marks a "soft reboot" for the series, with a total overhaul of the game engine that resulted in substantial design and pacing changes. The bomb counter has been removed and replaced by the "Options" system, which adds up to four "satellites" that hover near the player and fire bullets. They can be obtained by collecting power items, and have additional effects based on selected weapon type. The "Faith" system is also used, where players can collect green "Faith" items to increase the value of point items. The game is also one of the three games in the series that allows the player to have unlimited continues, but using one results in the player having to restart the current stage. • One autumn, Reimu receives a message demanding the closure of Hakurei Shrine and threatening its destruction at the hands of the god of Yōkai Mountain. As either Reimu or Marisa, the player must ascend the mountain in order to confront the ones behind the threat and prevent the shrine from being taken over. • "Scarlet Perception Heaven" • The 10.5th game in the series and the second versus fighting game released on May 25, 2008, at Reitaisai 5. It is a sequel to the first fighting game in the series, Immaterial and Missing Power. The story revolves around strange weather phenomenon occurring around Gensokyo, following Reimu and the other protagonists in their search for the culprit. It features a 20 Spell Card deck system, flying mechanics, and changing weather conditions that affects gameplay. Both local and online multiplayer modes are included in addition to the singleplayer Story Mode. • Subterranean Animism • The eleventh game in the series, released on August 16, 2008, at Comiket 74. A geyser suddenly appears one day near the Hakurei Shrine, spouting evil earth spirits from underground. Playing as Reimu or Marisa, the player must travel to the Underworld (地底 Chitei, "underground") to find its source, assisted by one of the three yōkai allies communicating from above (Yukari Yakumo, Suika Ibuki, or Aya Shameimaru for Reimu and Alice Margatroid, Patchouli Knowledge, or Nitori Kawashiro for Marisa). The game features graze-based scoring and a variation of the "Options" system introduced in Mountain of Faith. • Undefined Fantastic Object • The twelfth game in the series released on August 15, 2009 at Comiket 76. Spring has come to Gensokyo and a strange flying ship said to bring good omens has appeared in the sky. The player assumes the role of either Reimu, Marisa, or Sanae Kochiya from Mountain of Faith, as the three girls race to board the vessel. "Undefined Fantastic Objects", or UFOs will sometimes appear around the screen, and can be collected for bonus points, lives, or bombs. • "Unperceiving of Natural Law ~ Chase the Enigma of the Gargantuan Guignol" • The 12.3rd game in the series and the third versus fighting game released on August 15, 2009 at Comiket 76. It retains much of the gameplay of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody while adding new playable characters, Spell Cards, and weather conditions. The Story Mode, at first has only one playable character, Sanae Kochiya, but after completion, Cirno, and Hong Meiling can be unlocked. The story revolves around a giant creature that has piqued the interest of Gensokyo's residents. The three girls, each with their own ideas as to its nature, set out to investigate the mystery of the giant. Each of the nine playable characters now has an associated Spell Card, which is usable by any character once it is unlocked. Both local and online multiplayer modes are included in addition to the singleplayer Story Mode. • Daburu Supoiraa ~ Tōhō Bunkachō • The 12.5th game in the series released on March 14, 2010, at Reitaisai 7. It is a sequel to Shoot the Bullet, following Aya Shameimaru on her mission to photograph the yokai of Gensokyo and their danmaku. It retains much of the same gameplay from its predecessor and features bosses from Mountain of Faith to Undefined Fantastic Object. Aya's colleague and fellow tengu reporter Hatate Himekaidou is an unlockable character. The game was released on Steam on August 2, 2019. • "Great Fairy Wars ~ Three Fairies" • The 12.8th game in the series, released on August 14, 2010, at Comiket 78. It is a danmaku shooter based on the official Touhou Sangetsusei manga series. After the Three Fairies of Light destroy Cirno's house one winter, the ice fairy makes plans to take her revenge in the spring. The game features three stages and one playable character, Cirno, who has the unique ability to freeze bullets mid-air. It was released on Steam on August 2, 2019. • "Divine Spirit Mausoleum" • The thirteenth game in the series, released on August 13, 2011, at Comiket 80. After the events of Undefined Fantastic Object, Reimu and Marisa notice an increase in spirits in Gensokyo and take off to investigate. Also playable is Sanae, who seeks to utilize the power of the divine spirits for the Moriya Shrine gods, and Youmu, who wants to exterminate spirits that she views as unnecessary. The gameplay includes "Divine Spirits", which are dropped by defeated enemies and come in four varieties (blue, gray, purple, and green). Collecting spirits fills the player's "Trance Gauge", which can be used to enter an invincible "Trance" once filled. It was released on Steam on June 19, 2019. • Hopeless Masquerade • The 13.5th game in the series and the fourth versus fighting game released on May 26, 2013, at Reitaisai 10. The Human Village has fallen into despair in the wake of the high number of incidents, prompting adherents of Gensokyo's three competing religions (Shinto, Taoism, and Buddhism) to battle each other to expand their faith's influence. This concept is reflected in the "Popularity" system: damage dealt and received is measured on a meter, which unlocks a special "Last Word" combo when it is filled to its maximum. The game features a completely new engine from the one used in the previous three fighting games. Both local and online multiplayer modes are included in addition to the singleplayer Story Mode. • Double Dealing Character • The fourteenth game in the series released on August 12, 2013, at Comiket 84. Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya are playable characters, with gameplay resembling that of Ten Desires. As clouds begin to gather and yōkai rebel all over Gensokyo, the weapons of the three main characters begin to behave bizarrely. On August 10, 2014, the game was confirmed for release on Playism, making Double Dealing Character the first game in the series to be sold for digital download. On May 7, 2015, Playism made the game available for download in Western territories, marking the official Western debut of the series. It was released on Steam on June 19, 2019. • "Bullet Curtain Amanojaku" • The 14.3rd game in the series released on May 11, 2014, at Reitaisai 11. The player controls the stage 5 boss of Double Dealing Character, amanojaku Seija Kijin, who uses nine "cheat" items to clear otherwise impossible-to-beat Spell Cards. A bounty is set on Seija, and several characters from previous installments attempt to capture her over ten days. The game was released on Steam on April 1, 2019. • Urban Legend in Limbo • The 14.5th game in the series and the fifth versus fighting game, released on May 10, 2015, at Reitaisai 12. It features a similar style and gameplay to the series' previous fighting game, Hopeless Masquerade, and adds a new "Occult Ball" system for controlling special moves and battle effects. The story centers on the strange rumors circulating in Gensokyo's Human Village, which have begun to manifest themselves in the form of supernatural anomalies. It was released for PlayStation 4 on December 8, 2016, with several added features (including Reisen Udongein Inaba from Imperishable Night as a playable character), becoming the first game in the series to be released for a console system. Both local and online multiplayer modes are included in addition to the singleplayer Story Mode. • Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom • The fifteenth game in the series released on August 14, 2015, at Comiket 88. The game features Reimu, Marisa, Sanae, and Reisen as playable characters. Someone has taken over the Lunar Capital, and Lunarians have come to "purify" Gensokyo in order to make it suitable for them to live in; the girls must work to stop the invasion and find the perpetrator behind the incident. Unlike previous games in the series, Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom features two game modes: Legacy Mode, similar to the previous games, and Pointdevice Mode, which replaces lives and continues with a series of "chapters". When the player gets hit in this mode, they restart from the beginning of the current chapter with a small penalty to their shot power. The game was released on Steam on April 1, 2019. • Antinomy of Common Flowers • The 15.5th game in the series and the sixth versus fighting game, released on December 29, 2017, at Comiket 93. It is a sequel to Urban Legend in Limbo and reuses the "Occult Ball" system. An urban legend known as the "Perfect Possession" has manifested, combining pairs of Gensokyo residents in a single body and enabling them to battle as a switchable "Master" and "Slave" tag team. The game was released on Steam on January 5, 2018. Both local and online multiplayer modes are included in addition to the singleplayer Story Mode. • Hidden Star in Four Seasons • The sixteenth game in the series released on August 11, 2017, at Comiket 92. The seasons in Gensokyo are out of control, with spring meadows alongside summer skies, autumn trees, and winter blizzards. Reimu, Marisa, Aya, and Cirno set out to find the cause of this chaos. The game features a "Sub-Season" system, where the player collects seasonal items (cherry petals, green leaves, red leaves, and snowflakes) in order to gain various boosts. Collected sub-seasons can also be released as a mini-bomb in order to clear enemy projectiles. The game was released on Steam on November 16, 2017, marking the series' Steam debut. • "Secret Sealing Nightmare Diary" • The 16.5th game in the series released on August 10, 2018, at Comiket 94. A danmaku photography game in the style of Shoot the Bullet and Double Spoiler, it features the antagonist of Urban Legend in Limbo, Sumireko Usami, as the playable character. It includes bosses from Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom to Hidden Star in Four Seasons, as well as Reimu, Marisa, and most of the final and extra stage bosses from the previous Windows games. The game was released on Steam on September 5, 2018. • Wily Beast and Weakest Creature • The seventeenth game in the series, released on August 12, 2019, at Comiket 96. When Reimu, Marisa and Youmu discover that animal spirits are planning to attack the surface world, they venture into Hell to stop them and are accompanied by one of three friendly spirits ("Wolf", "Otter", or "Eagle"). It features a similar bonus system to Undefined Fantastic Object, with "Spirit Items" (based on the three spirit types) that activate special effects when collected in groups of five. The game was released on Steam on September 9, 2019. • "Strange Tale of Avarice ~ Submerged Hell of Sunken Sorrow" • The 17.5th game in the series. It is a collaboration between Team Shanghai Alice and Twilight Frontier, and is described on its official website as a "horizontally-scrolling danmaku water action game". A beta version was released on October 6, 2019. The game was scheduled to be released at Reitaisai 18, but in March 2021 Twilight Frontier announced that the game had to be postponed until further notice. It was released on October 24, 2021. • Unconnected Marketeers • The eighteenth game in the series, which released on May 4, 2021. The game features Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Sakuya Izayoi, and Sanae Kochiya as playable characters. The game features Ability Cards, which the player acquires to gain various boosts and abilities. The game follows the investigation on Yōkai Mountain of the appearance of these cards. The trial version was released on March 21, 2021, at Reitaisai 18. The demo was later released on Steam on March 24, 2021. The full game was released on May 4, 2021 at Gensou Kagura 5 and on Steam. • Barettofiriatachi no Yami-Ichiba • The 18.5th game in the series, which was released on August 14, 2022, in commemoration of the 100th Comiket event. A subsequent Steam release occurred on the same day. • Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost • The nineteenth game in the series, which was announced in April 2023 and was released at Comiket 102 on August 13, 2023, with a Steam release soon after. It features gameplay similar to Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream and Flower View, this time featuring 19 playable characters, and borrows mechanics from the Ability Card system present in Unconnected Marketeers. • Fossilized Wonders • The twentieth game in the series, which was announced on April 12, 2025. The trial version released May 5, 2025, at Reitaisai 22. It released on August 17, 2025. Includes "Incident Stones", a new mechanic allowing the player to unlock, equip and mix items that affect both gameplay and the story's dialogue.

• Illustration — The in-game interface of Perfect Cherry Blossom: 1. Player character (in this case, Reimu Hakurei) 2. High score and current score 3. Player life and bomb counters 4. Firepower gauge and graze counter 5. Enemy spellcard gauge 6. Special item counter ("Cherry Points" in Perfect Cherry Blossom) 7. Enemy spellcard name 8. Enemy location indicator In the games, the player's bullet power increases on a linear scale as the player collects power-ups dropped by enemies, and eventually maxes out. The player can also collect "point" icons to earn extra lives; the amount needed grows exponentially as the player's score rises. In some games, such as Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and Mountain of Faith, extra lives are awarded based on points alone. The player can enter "focus mode" by holding the shift key by default, which slows down the player's movement, makes their hitbox visible (from Perfect Cherry Blossom onwards), and generally focuses the player's attack to make it more powerful. The graze counter (missing from Mountain of Faith, Story of Eastern Wonderland, and Unconnected Marketeers) tracks how many bullets entered the character sprite but avoided the hitbox, rewarding the player with a score bonus for taking risks. The player can use a "bomb" or "spell card", similar to the "bomb" in many other shooting games. Although the player has a limited number at any given time, losing a life replenishes the current number of bombs up to a certain amount. With some exceptions, use of a bomb will make the user temporarily invulnerable, clear many of the bullets, and cause heavy damage to any enemies on screen. The overall effect the bomb has varies by character and by game. The player can use one during a short period after being hit by a bullet (called a "deathbomb") to avoid loss of a life. The amount of time the player has available to deathbomb is usually around 0.3 seconds (8 frames). Bosses have attack phases, which are also referred to as spell cards, but with bosses the term applies to a prolonged pattern of movements and shots that last until the player depletes the boss' health by a certain amount or the time runs out. Each individual game of the main series from Perfect Cherry Blossom to Wily Beast and Weakest Creature has additional items that affect some aspect of gameplay, such as scoring or gaining extra lives/bombs. For example, Perfect Cherry Blossom has "cherry points", which are used mostly in scoring, but can grant temporary invulnerability (known as the "supernatural border"); Imperishable Night has "time points", which are essential for advancing to later stages, and also determine if the player gets to challenge a boss's 'final spell' on normal or higher difficulties; Mountain of Faith has "faith" points, which boost the score the player receives upon gathering point items and bonuses for clearing spell cards without dying or using a spell card. Each main Touhou Project game has four difficulty levels ("easy", "normal", "hard", and "lunatic") with each one being harder than the previous. Regardless of the difficulty choice, there are six stages in each game that become progressively harder. The only exceptions to this are Story of Eastern Wonderland, which has only five stages, and Lotus Land Story and Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, both of which lock the player out of the sixth stage on easy difficulty. In addition to the four main difficulties, there is an extra stage, unlocked after completing the game without using any continues (or by inputting a game-specific unlock code, from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil onwards). The extra stage is more difficult than "normal" and less difficult than "hard", and contains an especially long boss fight (usually with ten spell cards). Bosses in extra stages are usually immune to bombs. Some games in the series require a one-credit clear on Normal or above to unlock the extra stage, while on others, it can be done on any difficulty.

The plots of the Touhou Project revolve around the strange phenomena that occur in the fictional realm of literally Fantasy Village or Fantasy Land, which ZUN designed as a human village in some remote mountain recesses in Japan. Originally, it was simply called "a remote separated land of a human village in an eastern country." Long before the Touhou Projects story begins, many non-humans like yōkai lived with some humans in the area. After a few humans disappeared into Gensokyo, many humans became afraid of approaching this area, while others settled there to exterminate yōkai. However, as time went on, humans developed civilization and multiplied in number, and thus yōkai worried about how the balance between humans and yōkai would be affected. 500 years before Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (EoSD), the yōkai sage Yukari Yakumo developed the "boundary of phantasm and substance," which was favored by the yōkai and protected the balance. This was called the "Yōkai Expansion Project" and made Gensokyo a phantasmal world that automatically called out to the weakened yōkai of the outside world. Other things that disappear from the outside world, like extinct animals, lost tools, and architecture, appear in Gensokyo. Since Gensokyo was a plot of land in Japan that is separated by a barrier, it is Japan that is immediately outside of this barrier. As a result of the seal, Gensokyo became inaccessible from the outside world, and similarly, those in Gensokyo were unable to leave. Gensokyo's existence could not be confirmed from the outside world, nor could the outside world be confirmed within Gensokyo. As a result, the isolated community developed its own civilization, independent from the outside world. Although separated by a barrier, it is a bordering world to its outside, as opposed to being in a parallel universe. There also exists on the Moon a place called the Lunar Kingdom, which exists in the same way as Gensokyo in that it is separated from the rest of the Moon by its own barrier, although accessible from Gensokyo. There are no seas in Gensokyo, since it is landlocked. In Gensokyo, there are few humans, and various kinds of yōkai. Some species include magicians, beasts, therianthropes, vampires, bōrei, tengu, mermaids, kappa, and yōkai (a kind of miscellaneous group). There are other species that may be yōkai depending on definition, like fairies, spirits, yūrei, onryō, poltergeists, hermits, oni, and deities which are all portrayed in human female form. Otherworldly places such as Heaven and Hell are also accessible from Gensokyo. In present Gensokyo, presented in all Touhou Project games since Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, magical and spiritual qualities prevail compared to the outside world where unscientific phenomena were dismissed as "superstition" around the time of the Meiji era. The only known gateway from the outside world into Gensokyo is the Hakurei Shrine on the border of Gensokyo. The spell card rules were also established to keep up the relationship between humans and yōkai in a mock style, which was necessary for the preservation of the balance of Gensokyo. The "Great Hakurei Barrier," managed by past Hakurei miko, was constructed several decades before EoSD, which is described as a "barrier of common sense," and is thus a strong logical barrier that not even yōkai can pass through. The yōkai opposed its construction at first before understanding its usefulness.

In Gensokyo, events called "incidents" occur once in a while. An incident is an event that affects all of Gensokyo and is of unknown cause at the time it occurs. The Touhou Project video games mainly focus on incidents that affect the entirety of Gensokyo, but there are also works like Mountain of Faith and many of the print media that are centered on lesser-scale events. Frequently, incidents are due to a yōkai whim or curiosity, and usually Reimu Hakurei or Marisa Kirisame would go to investigate it and find, defeat, chastise the perpetrators. While Reimu and Marisa are usually the ones to resolve incidents, there are cases where other characters would resolve them. When a major incident occurs, the spirits and fairies are affected by the incident and experience a temporary increase in power.

• Illustration — Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame, the protagonist duo of the series, on the official Touhou magazine Strange Creators of Outer World Vol. 8 cover The Touhou Project is known for its unconventional, almost entirely female roster, which features a cast of over 180 characters. Though each entry in the series features a collection of different characters, the series's main protagonist is Reimu Hakurei, joined by Marisa Kirisame after the second game. Reimu Hakurei, the miko of the Hakurei Shrine, and Marisa Kirisame, a magician, are usually tasked with resolving supernatural "incidents" caused in and around Gensokyo. Exceptions to this include Shoot the Bullet and Double Spoiler (Aya Shameimaru is playable in both, and Hatate Himekaidou can become playable in Double Spoiler), Fairy Wars (which has Cirno as the sole playable character), Impossible Spell Card and Gold Rush (where only Seija Kijin is playable), Violet Detector (where only Sumireko Usami is playable) and 100th Black Market (where only Marisa is playable). Other recurring protagonists and incident resolvers in the video games include Sakuya Izayoi, a maid with the ability to stop time, Youmu Konpaku, a half-yūrei gardener and swordswoman, and Sanae Kochiya, a miko and arahitogami. Characters that frequently appear in the print works include Yukari Yakumo, a yōkai involved with the founding of Gensokyo, Eirin Yagokoro, a Lunarian pharmacist, and Aya Shameimaru, a tengu journalist with the ability to manipulate wind. ZUN has acknowledged that while the Touhou Project characters have elaborate stories, little detail is given to them in-game, saying that "danmaku is how the story and characters are communicated." Additionally, he has claimed danmaku (bullet hell) is meant to be beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, which is also the main reason why the majority of Touhou Project characters are female. ZUN believes there is a feminine charm to bullet hell, which would be lost with male characters, and that the presence of female characters should not be interpreted as fan service.

Thirteen music CDs have been released as part of "ZUN's Music Collection". They are numbered from Volume 1 to 11 by release date, with Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey and Rainbow-Colored Septentrion being numbered as 5.5 and 9.5 respectively due to their short playing time. Each album contains arrangements of music from the games as well as new compositions: • "Hourai Doll"; 2002-12-30 • "Night Trip to Rendaino"; 2003-12-30 • "Changing Dreams in the Age of Science"; 2004-12-30 • "East-West Tōkaidō"; 2006-05-21 • "Celestial Wizardry"; 2006-08-13 • Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey • "Ruins of Torifune"; 2012-04-30 • "Izanagi Object"; 2012-08-11 • "Swallowstone Naturalis Historia"; 2016-05-08 • "Old Testament Tavern"; 2016-08-13 • Rainbow-Colored Septentrion • "Mugen Noh of Tanabata Hill"; 2024-05-03 • "Primate Spirit Aramashi-kyō ~ Artificial Utopia in Ruins"; 2026-8-23 Each album (except Dolls in Pseudo Paradise, Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey, and Rainbow-Colored Septentrion) includes a booklet written by ZUN documenting the activities of the "Secret Sealing Club", a self-described "club of necromancers" in Kyoto, Japan. In the loose collection of stories, club members Renko Usami and Maribel Hearn research and discuss various topics related to Gensokyo and the paranormal; Dolls in Pseudo Paradise includes an unrelated story about the fate of eight thieves spirited away to Gensokyo. In 2006 and 2007, ZUN released Akyu's Untouched Score, a five-volume collection of PC-98 soundtracks that includes several unused themes. The albums respectively cover Lotus Land Story, Mystic Square, Story of Eastern Wonderland, Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream, and Highly Responsive to Prayers. Each track in the collection was enhanced with the addition of a sixth FM synthesis channel, which was originally reserved for sound effects in the games: • "History of Yougakudan 1"; 2006-05-21 • "History of Yougakudan 2"; 2006-12-31 • "History of Yougakudan 3"; 2006-12-31 • "History of Yougakudan 4"; 2007-12-31 • "History of Yougakudan 5"; 2007-12-31 Original soundtracks for the seven official games developed in collaboration with Twilight Frontier have also been released. The first six games are mainly scored by Akiyama Uni while Sunken Fossil World is mainly scored by Ziki_7, in addition to a few original compositions by ZUN for each game. In addition, the day time music in Immaterial and Missing Power are scored by NKZ, and Urban Legend in Limbo and Antinomy of Common Flowers feature guest arrangements by several dōjin creators: • "Collection of Illusionary Music"; 2005-08-14 • "Celestial Music Record of All Humankind"; 2008-08-16 • "Thermonuclear Titan Hisoutensoku"; 2009-12-30 • "Dark Noh Collection"; 2013-08-12 • "A Deeply Mystic Music Collection ~ Sumireko Usami and the Clubroom of Secrets"; 2015-08-14 • "A Deeply Mystic Music Collection Supplement ~ Touhou Shinpiroku First Pressing Special CD"; 2016-12-08 • "Perfect Possession Discography"; 2018-05-06 • Sunken Fossil World OST ZUN's Music Collection, Akyu's Untouched Score, and the fighting game soundtracks have been released for digital download on Google Play and the iTunes Store (Japan, US). Several music CDs have accompanied copies of official print works; these are listed below.

The Touhou Project is a one-man project by Jun'ya Ōta (usually under the pseudonym ZUN), who does all the graphics, music, and programming alone for the bullet hell games, with the exceptions of the portrait art in Fairy Wars, which was done by Makoto Hirasaka. The fighting games, Immaterial and Missing Power, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Touhou Hisōtensoku, Hopeless Masquerade, Urban Legend in Limbo, and Antinomy of Common Flowers, were dual efforts with Twilight Frontier, in which ZUN wrote the music and story, and Twilight Frontier created the art and gameplay. ZUN's first interest in developing video games came during his high school years. While most shoot 'em up games utilise a military or science fiction theme, ZUN wanted a game with a miko main character, and a Shinto aesthetic. ZUN was part of his school's orchestra club, and originally wanted to create music for video games. He went to college, hoping to compose music for fighting games, since they were popular at the time due to Street Fighter II. As he did not know anybody else who was making games that he could put his music in, he made his own games for this purpose, which led to the first Touhou Project game, Highly Responsive to Prayers, being released in 1996. The first game was originally intended as a practice in programming. The Touhou Project only became a shooting game series from the second game onwards, because the popularity of shooting games had revived due to RayForce and ZUN had long been a fan of such games. ZUN remarked how the general theme and direction of Touhou only started coming together in the sixth game, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. ZUN develops his games with Visual Studio, Adobe Photoshop, and Cubase, according to his interview in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red. For the development of Fossilized Wonders, ZUN incorporated images generated by artificial intelligence into the game, a decision some Touhou fans criticized. However, he stated that his reason of using AI generated images had to do with the game's plot, and affirmed a negative stance against generative AI in art.

• Illustration — Shelves of Touhou derivative fanwork music album CDs at a store in Akihabara, with laminated dividers categorising CDs by dōjin circle The music of the Touhou Project has been a particular source of interest, and many arrangement CDs are sold at Comiket and other Japanese conventions. Among the most popular derivatives are the series of Flash music videos created by the dōjin music circle IOSYS, which are often shared on otaku internet forums and Niconico. One such song, "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing", has been heavily referenced and parodied in derivative anime music videos and Internet memes. "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing", alongside "Cirno's Perfect Math Class", "Night of Nights", and "Bad Apple!!" were included in the video game Touhou Spell Bubble. Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale, cited the Touhou Project as one of his musical influences. "Bad Apple!!", one of the most famous pieces of Touhou music, was originally composed by ZUN as the Stage 3 theme for the fourth game, Touhou Gensokyo ~ Lotus Land Story., released on August 14, 1998. According to ZUN, he aimed for a song that sounded "as old-fashioned as possible". It was later included in the soundtrack collection Akyu's Untouched Score vol.1, released at the third Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai in 2006. The song saw a massive surge in popularity following a 2007 arrangement by the dōjin circle Alstroemeria Records titled "Bad Apple!! feat. nomico". Arranged by Masayoshi Minoshima with vocals by the singer nomico, this version was released on the album Lovelight on May 20, 2007, at the 4th Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai. The lyrics, written by Haruka, utilize the English idiom "bad apple" (referring to a rotten apple that spoils the barrel) to depict a protagonist struggling with apathy, introspection, and a desire to completely "change to white" or "turn to black." The single reportedly reached #1 on the Japanese iTunes Store dance charts. Between May 2017 and August 2018, Alstroemeria Records released three commemorative albums—10th Anniversary Bad Apple!!, PHASE 2, and PHASE 3—featuring various remixes and covers of the track. The visual component that cemented the song's internet fame began on June 8, 2008, when a user named Μμ uploaded a crude storyboard video to Niconico based on a shortened version of the song, asking for someone to animate it. On October 27, 2009, a Niconico user named Anira published a completed black-and-white shadow play animation based on the storyboard. The video, which features characters such as Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame transitioning fluidly while dancing, quickly gained popularity, reaching #1 on the Niconico daily rankings on November 15, 2009. Alstroemeria Records themselves praised the video, describing the motion as beautiful. By March 2023, Anira's shadow art video had achieved over 30 million views on Niconico alone, making it the most-viewed Touhou-related video on the site. In January 2025, a YouTube upload of the shadow art video surpassed 100 million views; however, as the video was an unauthorized reprint, the community encouraged viewers to support the official version uploaded by Alstroemeria Records to assert ownership. The video's global impact has been significant enough to warrant coverage by major international media such as CNN. Following the success of the shadow art video, "Bad Apple!! feat. nomico" was integrated into various official rhythm games and karaoke services. A limited version of Taiko no Tatsujin featuring the song was exhibited at Niconico Chokaigi 2 in 2013. In 2019, DAM began distributing the song for karaoke, followed by JOYSOUND in 2020, which included the music video. In 2020, the mobile game BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! added a cover version by the in-game band Roselia (vocals by Aina Aiba). The song was also added to Muse Dash in September 2021 as part of a collaboration pack. In 2022, the rhythm game Touhou Danmaku Kagura included both the standard arrangement and a "Tetsuya Komuro Remix". In May 2024, the game Project Sekai: Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku released a cover by the unit "25-ji, Nightcord de." accompanied by a 2D music video paying homage to the original shadow art. The song and its shadow art video also became a staple in the demoscene and retrocomputing communities, often used to demonstrate the capabilities of hardware presumed incapable of playing back full-motion video. Peter Dell, a programmer who contributed to a port, described the video as having become a graphical equivalent to "Hello, World!" programs for retro platforms. Notable recreations include: • IBM 5160 (Intel 8088): In April 2014, the video was played on an IBM 5160 equipped with an Intel 8088 CPU at a resolution of 640×200 and a frame rate of 30 fps. • Commodore 64: A port running at 12 fps on the Commodore 64 appeared in June 2014. • Consoles: By 2015, ports had been created for the Vectrex, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis, as well as the TI-84 Plus series of graphing calculators. • Microcontrollers: In 2019, an Arduino Mega played the video (without audio) at 128×176 resolution and 60 fps. The physics club at Rokko Junior/Senior High School also displayed the video on an oscilloscope using a Raspberry Pi. • Apple IIe: A version played on an Apple IIe without any hardware modifications was released in 2021. • Software and Physics: In 2021, the YouTube channel "Plugla" (formerly Yukkuri AI Channel) recreated the video using cell painting in Excel. In 2023, a user named zboy recreated the video using graphing functions in Desmos, successfully filling in the colors with mathematical formulas rather than just outlining them. A 2024 implementation by engineer Waldemar Erk embedded the animation frames directly into a font file using WebAssembly inside the HarfBuzz text shaping engine. Other mediums have included stop motion using actual apples, Rubik's Cubes, Minecraft "Steve" heads, Tesla coils, lasers, and a performance by the traditional Japanese instrument group "Kineie Nami Shachu" featuring Shamisen, Koto, Shakuhachi, and Taiko.

• Illustration — Wikipe-tan drawn in the yukkuri style A major Internet meme based on the Touhou Project is often translated as "You should be taking it easy!!!", which centers around the disembodied, deformed heads of Touhou Project characters, often referred to as "yukkuris". This meme originated from a crude attempt to draw the main characters Reimu and Marisa with Shift JIS art in late 2007. Yukkuris became so popular that the phrase "Yukkuri shite itte ne!!!" won bronze for 2008's "Net Slang of the Year" in Japan. Yukkuris also appear in Internet advertisements, the anime Natsu no Arashi! and Pani Poni, and games like Needy Streamer Overload and most notably, the front page of 2channel, one of the most visited Japanese websites. The yukkuris are often given voices by the text-to-speech synthesizer SofTalk, and it has become popular in Japan to use yukkuris to stand-in and narrate online videos to the point that they became known as a genre called Yukkuri videos. FumoFumo • Illustration — A Reimu cosplayer holding a Reimu Fumo doll Another popular internet meme is FumoFumo, referring to a line of plush dolls of characters from the Touhou Project, which are designed by the Japanese illustrator Neji and manufactured by the Japanese merchandise company Gift. The plush series features emotionless faces, scornful eyes, and the standard size is about two heads tall. After becoming popular, the dolls have since caused panic buying.

The Hakurei Shrine's Regular Grand Festival is the largest of the many dōjin conventions hosting exclusively Touhou Project content. Although the coordinator of this convention is unrelated to Team Shanghai Alice officially, the name "Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai" was given by ZUN himself. It first started in 2004 as a way for Team Shanghai Alice to publicly distribute the trial version for their upcoming games, Imperishable Night and Immaterial and Missing Power. In addition, the 2004 Reitaisai featured a total of 114 participating circles. Since then, many Touhou Project derivative works are gathered and sold there. Commencing every year in April or May, the convention has been hosted in Ōta, Tokyo, in 2004; Naka-ku, Yokohama, in 2005; Sunshine City, Tokyo, in 2006 and 2007; and the Tokyo Big Sight from 2008 onwards. In 2010 Reitaisai SP, an additional Reitaisai to be held every autumn due to increasing popularity, was started, but it was cancelled after 2011, and later brought back and rebranded as Autumn Reitaisai from 2014 onwards. The 2011 Reitaisai was originally cancelled due to safety concerns after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, and the release of Ten Desires was also postponed. It was later rescheduled and held on May 8, 2011, with approximately 4,940 participating circles. In addition to events in Japan, there is another Reitaisai held in Taiwan that started in 2015. The 17th Reitaisai in 2020, which was originally going to run on March 22 before being postponed to May 17, was ultimately cancelled due to safety concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, making it the first Reitaisai to be cancelled.