, also known as , is a bullet hell video game series created by independent Japanese soft developer Team Shanghai Alice. The team's sole member, Jun'ya "ZUN" Ōta, has independently developed programming, graphics, writing, and music for the series, publishing 20 mainline games and 13 spin-offs since 1997. He collaborated with developer Twilight Frontier on seven of the official spin-offs, six of which are fighting games. ZUN has also produced related manga series, fanbooks, and music albums.
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 mechanics were introduced in the second game, Story of Eastern Wonderland (also released in 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.
Touhou Project is set in a preternatural land sealed from the outside world and primarily inhabited by humans and , legendary creatures from Japanese folklore that are personified entirely as young girls and women in an anthropomorphic style. Reimu Hakurei, the 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.
Touhou Project has become notable as a prominent source of Japanese 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 often held the record for circle participation, and the official convention Reitaisai, where trial versions of the official games are distributed prior to release.
Games
PC-98 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.
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, ) 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.
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", ) 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.
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.
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 to swarm the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame travel to seek out and eliminate the source of the disturbance, battling 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.
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.
Windows games 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 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.
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 September 10, 2026, a remake of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil was released under the title Touhou Koumakyou: New Classic ~ The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. It was developed by Team Shanghai Alice Reprise, a new development team helmed by ZUN to develop remakes of early Touhou titles. It is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and PlayStation 5. It is available in 11 different languages, making it the first time any mainline Touhou title has been localised outside of Japan.
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, ) 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.