Touhou Project Popularity Poll

The Touhou Project Popularity Poll (東方Project人気投票(にんきとうひょう), Tōhō Purojekuto Ninki Tōhyō), initially called the Touhou Series Popularity Poll (東方シリーズ人気投票),¹⁾ is the community-run popularity contest and questionnaire for the Touhou Project series that has been running since 2003.

Historically, it was ran by Touhou Wiki administrator, “Usui” (烏粋), but has since been passed onto a three-person committee in 2020.²⁾³⁾⁴⁾⁵⁾ As the name is quite long, the poll is also informally called the Touhou Popularity Poll (東方人気投票) or the Touhou Vote.

Poll history

This article only covers the 'unofficial'⁶⁾ Japanese-run instance.
It will not include alternative or non-Japanese popularity polls or rankings, as it would be better suited for a separate article.

No.	Voting period	Latest work(s)	Character poll		Points allocated
No.	Voting period	Latest work(s)	Chara	Votes	Chara	Music	Works	Bonus
01	2003-02-13 – 2003-04-06⁷⁾	Youyoumu^T	25*	544* ⁽⁺⁵⁴⁴⁾	3	3	—	—
02	2003-09-14 – 2003-09-27	Youyoumu	42	1195 ⁽⁺⁶⁵¹⁾	3	5	—	5 ^{[Spell Card]}
EX ^(Unlimited)	2004-05-16 – 2004-05-29	Eiyashou^T	77	Nullify	3/day	—	—	—
03	2004-10-17 – 2004-10-23	Suimusou^T, Eiyashou	61	4942 ^(+3747)	3 ^(#1→2pt)	5	—	5 ^{[Spell Card]}
04	2005-12-18 – 2005-12-24	Kaeizuka	71	4426 ^(-516)	3 ^(#1→2pt)	5	—	—
SP ^{(Spell Card)}	2006-07-09 – 2006-07-15	Bunkachou	Not Held		—	—	—	5
※	Around this point, websites like Niconico and Pixiv start to emerge.
05	2008-02-10 – 2008-02-16	Fuujinroku	94	12220 ^(+7794)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	5	—	—
06	2009-01-18 – 2009-01-24	Chireiden	108	22087 ^(+9867)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	7	—	—
07	2010-02-07 – 2010-02-13	Seirensen, Hisoutensoku	124	33449 ^(+11362)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	7	—	—
08	2011-02-13 – 2011-02-19	Fairy Wars	128	35946 ^(+2497)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	7	—	—
09	2012-02-19 – 2012-02-25	Shinreibyou	140	43737 ^(+7791)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	7	—	—
10	2014-02-23 – 2014-03-01	Kishinjou	159	31040 ^(-12697)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	7	—	—
※	Touhou Series Popularity Poll is renamed to Touhou Project Popularity Poll.
11	2015-05-24 – 2015-05-31	Shinpiroku, Kanjuden^T	172	32244 ^(+1204)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	—	—
12	2016-01-10 – 2016-01-16	Kanjuden	169	42419 ^(+10175)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
13	2017-01-15 – 2017-01-21	Shinpiroku^PS4	175	36727 ^(-5692)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^[Partner]
14	2018-01-14 – 2018-01-20	Hyouibana	186	32065 ^(-4662)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
15	2019-01-27 – 2019-02-02⁸⁾	Nightmare Diary	186	23883 ^(-8182)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
※	Touhou Project Popularity Poll is transferred to an Executive Committee.
16	2020-06-07 – 2020-06-13	Gouyoku Ibun^T	198	34573 ^(+10690)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
16EX ^(Partner)	2021-01-23 – 2021-01-30	Gouyoku Ibun^T	Not Held		7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
17	2021-09-26 – 2021-10-03	Kouryuudou	206	40363⁹⁾ ^(+5790)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
18	2022-09-17 – 2022-09-24	Bulletphiles	208	51652 ^(+11289)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
18EX ^(Rival)	2023-03-18 – 2023-03-25	Bulletphiles	Not Held		—	—	—	3
19	2023-09-16 – 2023-09-30	Juuouen	216	52447 ⁽⁺⁷⁹⁵⁾	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
20	2024-08-09 – 2024-08-23	Juuouen	217	56855 ^(+4408)	7 ^(#1→2pt)	10 ^(#1→2pt)	5 ^(#1→2pt)	—
20EX ^{(Spell Card)}	2025-03-15 – 2006-07-29	Juuouen	Not Held		—	—	—	7 ^{(#1→5pt, #2→4pt, #3→3pt, #4→2pt)}
21	2024-08-15 – 2025-08-29	Kinjoukyou	221	58509 ^(+1654)	7 ^{(#1→3pt, #2→2pt)}	10 ^{(#1→3pt, #2→2pt)}	5 ^{(#1→3pt, #2→2pt)}	—

Data analysis

PC-98 rankings

This section covers the highest-ranked characters from the PC-98 era. Of course, Yuuka used to be a PC-98 character in the first three polls, then became Yuuka Kazami with the release of Touhou Kaeizuka, so she's excluded after that point since it would be an unfair advantage. That said, this chart doesn't shake up much as it's just the same 25 or so characters, so you really have to rally around some of these characters.

Toggle chart.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
01 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	Mima ⁽¹⁰⁾	Kotohime ⁽¹²⁾	Yuuka ⁽¹³⁾	Ellen, Rikako ⁽¹⁵⁾		Genjii, Rika ⁽¹⁹⁾		25
02 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	Mima ⁽²¹⁾	Chiyuri ⁽²⁴⁾	Yuuka ⁽²⁶⁾	Yuki/Mai¹⁰⁾ ⁽²⁸⁾	Yumemi ⁽³¹⁾	Genjii, Ellen ⁽³²⁾		42
03 ⁽²⁰⁰⁴⁾	Mima ⁽²⁶⁾	Chiyuri ⁽³³⁾	Yuuka ⁽³⁴⁾	Shinki ⁽³⁵⁾	Yumemi ⁽³⁷⁾	Mai ⁽³⁹⁾	Yuki ⁽⁴⁰⁾	61
04 ⁽²⁰⁰⁵⁾	Shinki ⁽³⁵⁾	Mima ⁽³⁹⁾	Chiyuri ⁽⁴³⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁴⁸⁾	Kana, Kotohime, Yumeko ⁽⁵⁰⁾			71
05 ⁽²⁰⁰⁸⁾	Mima ⁽³⁶⁾	Shinki ⁽⁴²⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁵³⁾	Chiyuri ⁽⁵⁷⁾	Elly ⁽⁶⁰⁾	Kana ⁽⁶¹⁾	Mai ⁽⁶⁴⁾	94
06 ⁽²⁰⁰⁹⁾	Mima ⁽⁴⁵⁾	Shinki ⁽⁵⁴⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁵⁹⁾	Chiyuri ⁽⁶⁹⁾	Kana ⁽⁷¹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁷²⁾	Elly ⁽⁷³⁾	108
07 ⁽²⁰¹⁰⁾	Mima ⁽⁵⁶⁾	Shinki ⁽⁶¹⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁶²⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Chiyuri ⁽⁸¹⁾	Kana ⁽⁸³⁾	Elly ⁽⁸⁴⁾	124
08 ⁽²⁰¹¹⁾	Mima ⁽⁶¹⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁶⁵⁾	Shinki ⁽⁶⁷⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Mai ⁽⁸²⁾	Kana ⁽⁸³⁾	Yumeko ⁽⁸⁴⁾	128
09 ⁽²⁰¹²⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁶⁵⁾	Mima ⁽⁷¹⁾	Shinki ⁽⁷³⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁸⁴⁾	Kana ⁽⁸⁶⁾	Yumeko ⁽⁸⁸⁾	Elly ⁽⁹⁰⁾	140
10 ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁷²⁾	Mima ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Shinki ⁽⁸¹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁹⁵⁾	Kana ⁽⁹⁶⁾	Yumeko ⁽⁹⁸⁾	Mai ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾	159
11 ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁷²⁾	Shinki ⁽⁷⁸⁾	Mima ⁽⁸¹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁸⁸⁾	Kana ⁽⁹⁷⁾	Mugetsu ⁽⁹⁸⁾	Yumeko ⁽⁹⁹⁾	172
12 ⁽²⁰¹⁶⁾	Shinki ⁽⁷⁵⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Mima ⁽⁸⁹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁹²⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹⁰⁶⁾	Kana ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾	Yumeko ⁽¹⁰⁸⁾	169
13 ⁽²⁰¹⁷⁾	Shinki ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁸¹⁾	Mima ⁽⁸⁸⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁹⁴⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹⁰⁵⁾	Kana ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾	Yumeko ⁽¹⁰⁸⁾	175
14 ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	Shinki ⁽⁸⁵⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁹²⁾	Mima ⁽⁹⁴⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹⁰²⁾	Kana ⁽¹¹⁵⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹¹⁶⁾	Sariel ⁽¹¹⁸⁾	186
15 ⁽²⁰¹⁹⁾	Shinki ⁽⁸²⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁸³⁾	Mima ⁽⁸⁷⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹⁰³⁾	Kana ⁽¹¹²⁾	Sariel ⁽¹¹⁶⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹¹⁷⁾	186
16 ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	Mima ⁽⁸¹⁾	Shinki ⁽⁸⁸⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁹¹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹⁰⁴⁾	Kana ⁽¹¹⁸⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹¹⁹⁾	Sariel ⁽¹²⁴⁾	198
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	~~Mima~~ ⁽⁸⁴⁾	~~Shinki~~ ⁽⁹⁸⁾	~~Yumemi~~ ⁽¹⁰²⁾	~~Gengetsu~~ ⁽¹¹⁵⁾	~~Kana~~ ⁽¹²⁶⁾	~~Mugetsu~~ ⁽¹²⁸⁾	~~Yumeko~~ ⁽¹³⁰⁾	206
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	Mima ⁽⁸²⁾	Shinki ⁽⁹⁸⁾	Yumemi ⁽¹⁰¹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹¹³⁾	Kana ⁽¹²⁶⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹²⁷⁾	Yumeko ⁽¹²⁹⁾	206
18 ⁽²⁰²²⁾	Mima ⁽⁷⁵⁾	Shinki ⁽⁹⁰⁾	Yumemi ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹¹³⁾	Kana ⁽¹²⁷⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹²⁸⁾	Sariel ⁽¹²⁹⁾	208
19 ⁽²⁰²³⁾	Mima ⁽⁷⁰⁾	Shinki ⁽⁹⁴⁾	Yumemi ⁽¹⁰²⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹¹⁸⁾	Kana ⁽¹³⁰⁾	Sariel ⁽¹³²⁾	Yumeko ⁽¹³³⁾	216
20 ⁽²⁰²⁴⁾	Mima ⁽⁵⁶⁾	Shinki ⁽⁶⁷⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁹⁴⁾	Gengetsu ⁽¹⁰²⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹²⁰⁾	Kana ⁽¹³⁰⁾	Sariel ⁽¹³³⁾	217
21 ⁽²⁰²⁵⁾	Mima ⁽⁴⁹⁾	Shinki ⁽⁶¹⁾	Gengetsu ⁽⁸⁰⁾	Yumemi ⁽⁹⁰⁾	Mugetsu ⁽¹⁰⁸⁾	Kana ⁽¹²²⁾	Kurumi ⁽¹³⁰⁾	221

Lowest-ranked characters from the Windows era games

This section contains an 'arbitrary' list of the lowest-ranked characters from the Windows era games, meaning no PC-98 or print work characters, and the character must be in a Windows game when the poll was ran. In addition, this section also excludes the stage hazards (e.g. fairies, dolls, UFOs, Unzan, etc.), the Giant Catfish, Hisoutensoku,¹¹⁾ the Touhou Kikeijuu spirits, etc.

Toggle chart.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
01 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	Not counting. The list is too short and relied on write-ins.							25
02 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	Koakuma ⁽²⁶⁾	Merlin ⁽²²⁾	Letty ⁽²⁰⁾	Lyrica ⁽¹⁹⁾	Rumia, Lily ⁽¹⁷⁾		Cirno ⁽¹⁶⁾	42
03 ⁽²⁰⁰⁴⁾	Daiyousei ⁽³⁸⁾	Lyrica ⁽³⁰⁾	Merlin ⁽²⁹⁾	Wriggle ⁽²⁸⁾	Koakuma ⁽²⁷⁾	Letty ⁽²⁵⁾	Mystia ⁽²⁴⁾	61
04 ⁽²⁰⁰⁵⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁴¹⁾	Daiyousei ⁽⁴⁰⁾	Merlin ⁽³⁸⁾	Letty ⁽³⁷⁾	Medicine ⁽³⁴⁾	Wriggle ⁽³³⁾	Lily ⁽³⁰⁾	71
05 ⁽²⁰⁰⁸⁾	Minoriko ⁽⁵⁴⁾	Shizuha ⁽⁵²⁾	Merlin ⁽⁴⁸⁾	Lily ⁽⁴⁶⁾	Daiyousei ⁽⁴⁵⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁴⁴⁾	Medicine ⁽⁴³⁾	94
06 ⁽²⁰⁰⁹⁾	Lily ⁽⁶²⁾	Kisume ⁽⁶¹⁾	Merlin ⁽⁶⁰⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁵⁸⁾	Yamame ⁽⁵⁶⁾	Medicine ⁽⁵³⁾	Daiyousei ⁽⁵²⁾	108
07 ⁽²⁰¹⁰⁾	Kisume ⁽⁷²⁾	Merlin ⁽⁷⁰⁾	Lily ⁽⁶⁹⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁶⁷⁾	Yamame ⁽⁶³⁾	Ichirin ⁽⁶⁰⁾	Medicine ⁽⁵⁹⁾	124
08 ⁽²⁰¹¹⁾	Kisume ⁽⁷⁶⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁷⁵⁾	Merlin ⁽⁷³⁾	Star ⁽⁷²⁾	Lily ⁽⁷⁰⁾	Sunny ⁽⁶⁹⁾	Wriggle ⁽⁶³⁾	128
09 ⁽²⁰¹²⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁸³⁾	Merlin ⁽⁸²⁾	Kisume ⁽⁸¹⁾	Star ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Sunny ⁽⁷⁷⁾	Lily ⁽⁷⁶⁾	Ichirin ⁽⁷⁴⁾	140
10 ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾	Kisume ⁽⁹³⁾	Merlin ⁽⁹²⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽⁹¹⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁸⁸⁾	Lily ⁽⁸⁷⁾	Sunny ⁽⁸⁶⁾	Star ⁽⁸⁵⁾	159
11 ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	Kisume ⁽⁹⁴⁾	Merlin ⁽⁹²⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽⁹¹⁾	Sunny ⁽⁹⁰⁾	Lily ⁽⁸⁸⁾	Lyrica ⁽⁸⁷⁾	Star ⁽⁸⁶⁾	172
12 ⁽²⁰¹⁶⁾	Merlin ⁽¹⁰²⁾	Yatsuhashi, Lyrica ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾		Kisume ⁽⁹⁸⁾	Lily ⁽⁹⁷⁾	Sunny, Benben ⁽⁹⁵⁾		169
13 ⁽²⁰¹⁷⁾	Kisume ⁽¹⁰⁶⁾	Lyrica ⁽¹⁰²⁾	Merlin ⁽¹⁰¹⁾	Sunny ⁽⁹⁹⁾	Lily ⁽⁹⁸⁾	Star ⁽⁹⁷⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽⁹⁶⁾	175
14 ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	Kisume ⁽¹¹²⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹⁰⁹⁾	Lyrica ⁽¹⁰⁸⁾	Sunny ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾	Merlin ⁽¹⁰⁶⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽¹⁰⁵⁾	Lunar ⁽¹⁰⁴⁾	186
15 ⁽²⁰¹⁹⁾	Kisume ⁽¹¹⁵⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹¹¹⁾	Merlin ⁽¹⁰⁹⁾	Lyrica ⁽¹⁰⁶⁾	Ringo ⁽¹⁰⁵⁾	Sunny ⁽¹⁰⁴⁾	Star ⁽¹⁰²⁾	186
16 ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹³¹⁾	Kisume ⁽¹²⁶⁾	Eika ⁽¹²⁵⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽¹²³⁾	Urumi ⁽¹²¹⁾	Lyrica, Ringo ⁽¹¹²⁾		198
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	~~Eika~~ ⁽¹⁴¹⁾	~~Kisume~~ ⁽¹³⁸⁾	~~Sannyo~~ ⁽¹³⁷⁾	~~Urumi~~ ⁽¹³²⁾	~~Nemuno~~ ⁽¹²⁷⁾	~~Narumi~~ ⁽¹²⁵⁾	~~Sunny~~ ⁽¹²³⁾	206
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	Eika ⁽¹⁴³⁾	Sannyo ⁽¹³⁸⁾	Kisume ⁽¹³⁷⁾	Urumi ⁽¹³⁶⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹³⁴⁾	Narumi ⁽¹²⁵⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽¹²⁴⁾	206
18 ⁽²⁰²²⁾	Sannyo ⁽¹⁴³⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹⁴²⁾	Urumi ⁽¹⁴⁰⁾	Eika ⁽¹³⁴⁾	Kisume ⁽¹³¹⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽¹³⁰⁾	Narumi ⁽¹²⁴⁾	208
19 ⁽²⁰²³⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹⁴⁸⁾	Urumi ⁽¹⁴⁷⁾	Eika ⁽¹⁴³⁾	Misumaru ⁽¹⁴⁰⁾	Takane ⁽¹³⁹⁾	Kisume ⁽¹³⁷⁾	Yatsuhashi ⁽¹³⁵⁾	216
20 ⁽²⁰²⁴⁾	Nemuno ⁽¹⁵³⁾	Urumi ⁽¹⁵²⁾	Misumaru ⁽¹⁴³⁾	Sannyo ⁽¹⁴¹⁾	Eika ⁽¹³⁹⁾	Kisume ⁽¹³⁸⁾	Takane ⁽¹³⁷⁾	217
21 ⁽²⁰²⁵⁾	Ubame ⁽¹⁶³⁾	Urumi ⁽¹⁵⁹⁾	Sannyo ⁽¹⁵²⁾	Kisume ⁽¹⁵¹⁾	Misumaru ⁽¹⁴⁸⁾	Takane ⁽¹⁴⁶⁾	Eika ⁽¹⁴⁵⁾	221

Recurring phenomenon

High-ranking Koumakan

The perceived dominance of Touhou Koumakyou in the Touhou Project Popularity Poll has been noted as the seven main bosses tend to rank high in the character poll, while the music poll tends to be a back-and-forth between Remilia and Flandre's themes. These observations have been tentatively dubbed the 'Assuring and Reliable Scarlet Devil Brand' (安心と信頼の紅魔ブランド, Anshin to Shinrai no Kouma Burando).

Toggle chart.

No.	Rumia	Daiyousei	Cirno	Meiling	Koakuma	Patchouli	Sakuya	Remilia	Flandre
01 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	13	-	4	11	-	5	1	8	7	25
02 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	17 (↓4)	-	16 (↓12)	9 (↑2)	26	7 (↓2)	1 (→)	10 (↓2)	15 (↓8)	42
03 ⁽²⁰⁰⁴⁾	19 (↓2)	38	21 (↓5)	13 (↓4)	27 (↓1)	14 (↓7)	3 (↓2)	8 (↑2)	15 (→)	61
04 ⁽²⁰⁰⁵⁾	26 (↓7)	40 (↓2)	19 (↑2)	14 (↓1)	29 (↓2)	10 (↑4)	3 (→)	11 (↓3)	13 (↑2)	71
05 ⁽²⁰⁰⁸⁾	34 (↓8)	45 (↓5)	15 (↑4)	19 (↓5)	38 (↓9)	11 (↓1)	4 (↓1)	5 (↑6)	10 (↑3)	94
06 ⁽²⁰⁰⁹⁾	38 (↓4)	52 (↓7)	18 (↓3)	22 (↓3)	44 (↓6)	14 (↓3)	2 (↑2)	5 (→)	12 (↓2)	108
07 ⁽²⁰¹⁰⁾	38 (→)	52 (→)	23 (↓5)	20 (↑2)	55 (↓11)	16 (↓2)	4 (↓2)	5 (→)	10 (↑2)	124
08 ⁽²⁰¹¹⁾	37 (↑1)	47 (↑5)	23 (→)	22 (↓2)	55 (→)	17 (↓1)	2 (↑2)	4 (↑1)	9 (↑1)	128
09 ⁽²⁰¹²⁾	35 (↑2)	46 (↑1)	25 (↓2)	21 (↑1)	56 (↓1)	17 (→)	3 (↓1)	4 (→)	6 (↑3)	140
10 ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾	33 (↑2)	57 (↓11)	32 (↓7)	22 (↓1)	71 (↓15)	18 (↓1)	4 (↓1)	7 (↓3)	5 (↑1)	159
11 ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	29 (↑4)	57 (→)	37 (↓5)	23 (↓1)	70 (↑1)	19 (↓1)	4 (→)	7 (→)	5 (→)	171
12 ⁽²⁰¹⁶⁾	25 (↑4)	58 (↓1)	35 (↑2)	24 (↓1)	62 (↑8)	20 (↓1)	4 (→)	7 (→)	5 (→)	169
13 ⁽²⁰¹⁷⁾	23 (↑2)	61 (↓3)	35 (→)	24 (→)	62 (→)	20 (→)	5 (↓1)	7 (→)	6 (↓1)	175
14 ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	24 (↓1)	62 (↓1)	34 (↑1)	22 (↑2)	64 (↓2)	21 (↓1)	5 (→)	7 (→)	6 (→)	186
15 ⁽²⁰¹⁹⁾	25 (↓1)	56 (↑6)	24 (↑10)	22 (→)	65 (↓1)	20 (↑1)	7 (↓2)	5 (↑2)	6 (→)	186
16 ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	23 (↑2)	54 (↑2)	24 (→)	25 (↓3)	71 (↓6)	18 (↑2)	7 (→)	6 (↓1)	5 (↑1)	198
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	21 (↑2)	~~61 (↓7)~~	18 (↑6)	~~27 (↓2)~~	67 (↑4)	19 (↓1)	6 (↑1)	7 (↓1)	5 (→)	206
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	21 (↑2)	60 (↓6)	18 (↑6)	25 (→)	67 (↑4)	19 (↓1)	6 (↑1)	7 (↓1)	5 (→)	206
18 ⁽²⁰²²⁾	17 (↑4)	66 (↓6)	15 (↑3)	22 (↑3)	54 (↑13)	19 (→)	5 (↑1)	7 (→)	1 (↑4)	208
19 ⁽²⁰²³⁾	19 (↓2)	61 (↑5)	15 (→)	23 (↓1)	57 (↓3)	18 (↑1)	6 (↓1)	7 (→)	3 (↓2)	216
20 ⁽²⁰²⁴⁾	21 (↓2)	63 (↓2)	10 (↑5)	18 (↑5)	57 (→)	17 (↑1)	6 (→)	7 (→)	3 (→)	217
21 ⁽²⁰²⁵⁾	19 (↑2)	53 (↑10)	10 (→)	17 (↑1)	57 (→)	18 (↓1)	5 (↑1)	6 (↑1)	4 (↓1)	221

Popularity Poll Sandwiches

Following the 5th Touhou Project Popularity Poll, there used to be cheap jokes about how the Aki Sisters had ranked incredibly low for Windows era characters from the most recent game. In a weird turn of events, this sparked a unique phenomenon where people started to notice that the two would 'sandwich' characters in the polls, and there have been a number of lesser known copycat sandwiches since then.

Aki Sandwich

The Aki Sandwich (秋サンド, Aki Sando) is unique phenomenon where Minoriko Aki and Shizuha Aki would usually rank one or two spaces apart, which shined a spotlight on whoever was between them. It technically started with the 5th Touhou Project Popularity Poll, but it was only noticed in the 7th Touhou Project Popularity Poll as a way to tease Rin Kaenbyou's drop,¹²⁾ then this sorta just kept going as the trendsetter.

No.	Higher rank	Ingredient(s)	Lower rank		Depth	Notes
05 ⁽²⁰⁰⁸⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁵²⁾	Yumemi (53)	Minoriko ⁽⁵⁴⁾	○	56.4%	Yumemi's first.
06 ⁽²⁰⁰⁹⁾	Minoriko ⁽⁴⁹⁾		Shizuka ⁽⁵⁰⁾	×	45.8%
07 ⁽²⁰¹⁰⁾	Minoriko ⁽⁴⁶⁾	Rin (46)	Shizuka ⁽⁴⁸⁾	○	37.9%	“Orin was sacrificed…”
08 ⁽²⁰¹¹⁾	Minoriko ⁽⁴⁶⁾	Daiyousei (47)	Shizuka ⁽⁴⁸⁾	○	36.7%
09 ⁽²⁰¹²⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁵¹⁾		Minoriko ⁽⁵²⁾	×	36.8%
10 ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁶⁴⁾	Rinnosuke (65)	Minoriko ⁽⁶⁶⁾	○	49.1%
11 ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁷¹⁾	Yumemi (72)	Minoriko ⁽⁷³⁾	○	41.9%	Yumemi's second.
12 ⁽²⁰¹⁶⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁷⁸⁾	Yumemi (79)	Minoriko ⁽⁸⁰⁾	○	46.7%	Yumemi's third.
13 ⁽²⁰¹⁷⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁷⁶⁾	Lunasa (77)	Minoriko ⁽⁷⁸⁾	○	44.0%
14 ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁷⁹⁾	Lunasa (80), Rinnosuke (80), Shou (82), Mai (83)	Minoriko ⁽⁸⁴⁾	◎	43.8%	Sabotage attempt.¹³⁾ ~~Still a sandwich!~~
15 ⁽²⁰¹⁹⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁸¹⁾	Shinki (82), Yumemi (83)	Minoriko ⁽⁸⁴⁾	◎	44.4%	Yumemi's fourth.
16 ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁹⁶⁾		Minoriko ⁽⁹⁷⁾	×	48.7%
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁷⁷⁾	Hatate (78), Mayumi (79), Rinnosuke (80), Joon (81), Mamizou (82), Lunasa (83), Mima (84), Wriggle (84), Akyuu (86), Raiko (87)	Minoriko ⁽⁹⁸⁾	◎	~~40.0%~~	Invalidated results.¹⁴⁾
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁹³⁾		Minoriko ⁽⁹⁴⁾	×	43.4%
18 ⁽²⁰²²⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁸⁹⁾	Shinki (90), Yorihime (91)	Minoriko ⁽⁹²⁾	◎	43.5%
19 ⁽²⁰²³⁾	Shizuka ⁽⁹⁵⁾	Medicine (96), Yoshika (97), Yorihime (98), Raiko (99)	Minoriko ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾	◎	45.1%
20 ⁽²⁰²⁴⁾	Minoriko ⁽⁹⁹⁾	Saki (100)	Shizuka ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾	○	46.1%
21 ⁽²⁰²⁵⁾	Minoriko ⁽¹⁰⁶⁾		Shizuka ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾	×	48.2%

Scarlet Sandwich

The Scarlet Sandwich (スカーレットサンド, Sukāretto Sando) is a derivative phenomenon that focuses on where Remilia Scarlet and Flandre Scarlet rank. However, it's not as interesting since the two were already popular characters that consistently land in the Top 20, and there's not exactly a drought of popular characters interacting with other popular characters when you consider the existing fan content.

Toggle chart.

No.	Higher rank	Ingredient(s)	Lower rank		Notes
01 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	Flandre ⁽⁷⁾		Remilia ⁽⁸⁾	×
02 ⁽²⁰⁰³⁾	Remilia ⁽¹⁰⁾	Lunasa (11), Chen (12), Yuyuko (13), Yukari (14)	Flandre ⁽¹⁵⁾	◎
03 ⁽²⁰⁰⁴⁾	Remilia ⁽⁸⁾	Ran (9), Alice (10), Yukari (11), Mokou (12), Meiling (13), Patchouli (14)	Flandre ⁽¹⁵⁾	◎
04 ⁽²⁰⁰⁵⁾	Remilia ⁽¹¹⁾	Keine (12)	Flandre ⁽¹³⁾	○
05 ⁽²⁰⁰⁸⁾	Remilia ⁽⁵⁾	Yuyuko (6), Yukari (7), Alice (8), Mokou (9)	Flandre ⁽¹⁰⁾	◎
06 ⁽²⁰⁰⁹⁾	Remilia ⁽⁵⁾	Yukari (6), Mokou (7), Alice (8), Yuuka (9), Yuyuko (10), Aya (11)	Flandre ⁽¹²⁾	◎
07 ⁽²⁰¹⁰⁾	Remilia ⁽⁵⁾	Alice (6), Yuuka (7), Satori (8), Mokou (9)	Flandre ⁽¹⁰⁾	◎	Aki Sandwich recognized.
08 ⁽²⁰¹¹⁾	Remilia ⁽⁴⁾	Marisa (5), Sanae (6), Alice (7), Satori (8)	Flandre ⁽⁹⁾	◎
09 ⁽²⁰¹²⁾	Remilia ⁽⁴⁾	Marisa (5)	Flandre ⁽⁶⁾	○
10 ⁽²⁰¹⁴⁾	Flandre ⁽⁵⁾	Alice (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	○
11 ⁽²⁰¹⁵⁾	Flandre ⁽⁵⁾	Youmu (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	○
12 ⁽²⁰¹⁶⁾	Flandre ⁽⁵⁾	Youmu (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	○
13 ⁽²⁰¹⁷⁾	Flandre ⁽⁶⁾		Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	×
14 ⁽²⁰¹⁸⁾	Flandre ⁽⁶⁾		Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	×
15 ⁽²⁰¹⁹⁾	Remilia ⁽⁵⁾		Flandre ⁽⁶⁾	×
16 ⁽²⁰²⁰⁾	Flandre ⁽⁵⁾		Remilia ⁽⁶⁾	×
17 ⁽²⁰²¹⁾	Flandre ⁽⁵⁾	Sakuya (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	○	Sakuya's first.
18 ⁽²⁰²²⁾	Flandre ⁽¹⁾	Marisa (2), Reimu (3), Youmu (4), Sakuya (5), Koishi (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	◎	Flandre reaches 1st place.
19 ⁽²⁰²³⁾	Flandre ⁽³⁾	Koishi (4), Youmu (5), Sakuya (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	◎
20 ⁽²⁰²⁴⁾	Flandre ⁽³⁾	Koishi (4), Youmu (5), Sakuya (6)	Remilia ⁽⁷⁾	◎
21 ⁽²⁰²⁵⁾	Flandre ⁽⁴⁾	Sakuya (5)	Remilia ⁽⁶⁾	○

Notes

Historically, the characters and music from the Seihou Project series used to be valid picks, but it was eventually decided that they'd be ineligible for the 4th Touhou Series Popularity Poll onward.
In the 12th Touhou Project Popularity Poll, the 'character category' (キャラ部門, kyara bumon) renamed to the 'human-monster category' (人妖部門, nin-you bumon) as a reference to Touhou Gairai Ihen.
The rules and FAQ pages are no longer being preserved since the 13th Touhou Project Popularity Poll, and the new website can't be picked up by the Internet Archive since it's too new for them.
For the 21th Touhou Project Popularity Poll, there was a notable push to vote for the mob fairies with the '#VoteFairy' hashtag,¹⁵⁾¹⁶⁾ which resulted in a very significant jump from 171th place to 101th place.
- Without this context, the hashtag honestly confused me and I thought 'vote' was supposed to be the fairy's attribute, like, “I don't understand what this fairy has to do with voting, but alright.”

External links

Touhou Project Popularity Poll - The official website of the Touhou Project Popularity Poll.
- Past Voting Results - Self-explanatory page that links to all the past results.
- @toho_vote on Twitter - The official Twitter account for the Touhou Project Popularity Poll.
- @prof_hayten, @mktoho12, @yuzuru_cb on Twitter - The current committee.
Touhou Project Popularity Poll on Pixiv Encyclopedia
Touhou Project Popularity Poll on Niconico Encyclopedia

¹⁾

"企画名につきまして、初回からの伝統ということで｢東方シリーズ｣としていましたが、制度見直しの一環として｢東方Project｣と改めることとなりました。かねてから指摘のあった、「東方は『シリーズ』ではない」という神主の発言に準ずる形となります。" (January 24, 2015). Twitter.

²⁾

"【報告】長く時間が空いてしまいましたが、1月に行われた東方Project人気投票の詳細発表と、今後の体制について報告をさせていただきます。" (April 6, 2019). Twiter.

³⁾

"【お知らせ】このたび東方Wikiの管理を、東方人気投票実行委員会が引き継ぐ運びとなりました。東方Wikiは管理人を交代し、今後は人気投票実行委員が管理を行ってまいります。今後も変わらぬご利用のほど何卒よろしくお願いいたします。 http://thwiki.info" (February 15, 2020). Twitter.

⁴⁾

"【全2回】東方Project人気投票・新旧運営インタビュー" (January 27, 2021). Touhou Garakuta.

⁵⁾

"【全2回】東方Project人気投票・新旧運営インタビュー" (January 28, 2021). Touhou Garakuta.

⁶⁾

While the Touhou Project Popularity Poll is technically 'unofficial' and does not mean anything, it has been brought up on programs like Touhou Station where ZUN has commented on the topic, plus it's a bit misleading to keep pretending that it's this 'unofficial' event when most of the community is vaguely aware of it.

⁷⁾

The 1st Touhou Series Popularity Poll split the music and character polls, so the music poll ran from February 13 to March 13 and the character poll ran from March 6 to April 4.

⁸⁾

The 15th Touhou Project Popularity Poll was initially planned to be held on January 13, 2019, but it ended up being postponed to January 27, 2019 as they were in the process of finding new managers.

⁹⁾

The 17th Touhou Project Popularity Poll initially reported that it had 41,275 votes in the character category, but 912 votes were removed from the total due to suspected voter fraud.

¹⁰⁾

The 2nd Touhou Series Popularity Poll notably had Yuki and Mai as the same character.

¹¹⁾

For the record, I did consider the Giant Catfish and Hisoutensoku, but the two were just consistently at the bottom and usually ranked below Unzan. On that note, Unzan was consistently third, except in the 17th Touhou Project Popularity Poll where Eika somehow fared even worse than Unzan.

¹²⁾

In the 7th Touhou Series Popularity Poll, the Chireiden residents saw a boost, except Rin Kaenbyou who dropped 12 spots into the Aki Sandwich. This briefly led to cheap jokes that “Orin was sacrificed…” (お燐は犠牲になったのだ・・・) until Daiyousei replaced her in the 8th Touhou Project Popularity Poll.

¹³⁾

"However, I also have a request. Please spare one of your votes for Shizuha ( 秋静葉 ). Every year, Shizuha and Minoriko are separated by one place, leading to the so-called “Aki Sandwich” for whoever’s between them. I want to change that, as a minor demonstration of the influence of the non-Japanese fandom. There’s no reward for this other than the satisfaction of knowing that you made a tiny yet visible difference in the world, but personally I think that’s enough." (January 13, 2018). Tumblr.

¹⁴⁾

¹⁵⁾

"Starting in February I wish to challenge my self and put out a Tipsy post each day of that month. To A: practice drawing & B: Spread the word for voting for the Mob fairy(s) in the next Touhou vote for 25'! I will be using the tags: #VoteFairy #FairyFashionFebruary #TipsyIizai" (January 31, 2025). Twitter.

¹⁶⁾

"#VoteFairy #東方Project #touhou #TipsyIizai A #votefaiy promotional poster! For this years #toho_vote21" (June 6, 2025). Twitter.

Nameless Rumia's Wiki

Table of Contents

Touhou Project Popularity Poll

Poll history

Data analysis

PC-98 rankings

Lowest-ranked characters from the Windows era games

Recurring phenomenon

High-ranking Koumakan

Popularity Poll Sandwiches

Aki Sandwich

Scarlet Sandwich

Notes

See also

External links