So, there was some other way to discover the town's secret in the Japanese version?
That's what it sounds like.

It's too bad the Japanese version is so damn impenetrable, because I'd really like to see those enemies with their proper palettes intact.
I would, too, but it's not something I have time to willingness to do...unless I found some codes that would make my characters invincible so that I could blow through it with impunity...