Takamaru hasn't had a game in years if I'm not mistaken so I'm not sure if numbers will help. I do think he'll be in as a retro character though probably with a brand new design. And you're reassuring my point. Brawl (the most recent smash game as statistics from melee aren't necessarily accurate anymore) had barely any Eastern centric characters and the ones that you may consider easter centric either had some sort of big following in the west or were WTF characters no matter where you lived. When you look at Brawl's cast, the newcomers were either very recognizable all over the world, or were more western centric. And we're already seeing that same idea reflected in the announced newcomers. They're all big names, even Little Mac is recognizable. No one "leaked" Rosalina when she should have been more expected from the beginning rather than these Japanese characters, yet still before and after she was revealed the leakers are still resorting to these crazy one off Eastern characters.
It's not all about sales and popularity. Ice Climbers and Pit were added as oldschool Nintendo characters; Game & Watch and R.O.B. were added to represent aspects of Nintendo history (the Game & Watch handheld system, and the R.O.B. accessory).
Some characters are added because their franchises are (or have become) popular and/or successful (e.g. Villager); others are added to existing franchises due to being notable in such franchises (e.g. Rosalina); others are added due to popularity and demand (e.g. Little Mac, so far as the West is concerned).
Big Names are certainly worthwhile additions. But that's not the way Sakurai rolls; he won't focus exclusively on adding the Big Names of the Day. If past Smash titles are of any indication, he'll add Big Names, true, but he'll also add characters that serve to illustrate Nintendo's 30+ year gaming history, as well as characters that are highly unique. And of course, he'll throw one or two surprises into the mix (e.g. Wii Fit Trainer).
tl;dr -- we can expect a few more "obscure" or "Japanese-centric" picks, but we can also expect a few more heavy-hitters, and other deserving characters in a Nintendo crossover game.
I suspect that this is veering off-topic, so I recommend we bring this tangent to a close.
