Shoji Tabuchi (1944-2023) was a Branson, Missouri based fiddler and singer who performed at his theater ‘Shoji Tabuchi Theatre’, earning him the nickname “The King Of Branson“. Shoji was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall Of Fame in 2020, three years before his passing. He was born in what is now known as Kaga, Ishikawa, Japan and began practicing violin at age 7 through the encouragement of his mother. When Tabuchi was in college in the mid 1960’s, he became enamored with seeing Roy Acuff live, which turned his heart to bluegrass. To be specific, Acuff’s fiddler Howdy Forrester performing “Listen To The Mockingbird” was the moment that changed it all for Tabuchi. Shoji was granted the opportunity to meet Acuff backstage, and thereafter formed a bluegrass group in Japan titled the Bluegrass Ramblers. The Ramblers went onto win a national contest for their bluegrass in Japan shortly after, and Shoji abandoned his college studies in Japan to emigrate to the United States with only his violin and a few hundred dollars.
Tabuchi hopped around from California to Louisiana, then to Kansas before nestling into Missouri for good. He appeared at the Grand Ole Opry 27 times and was the opening act for David Houston for 5 years. In 2006, Tabuchi was invited to perform inside the White House, feet away from George Bush. Once settled in Branson, Shoji built a well-esteemed theatre, which employed 200 and seated 2,000. This is where the Shoji Tabuchi Show was held, where he performed alongside his second wife Dorothy and their daughter Christine, most of the year they hosted two shows daily, for well over three decades. At the theater everything from cajun music to polka and Hawaiian tunes were played, making it a melting pot of an experience and a myriad of genres juxtaposing one another. In his time Shoji won many awards, some notable being the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Award, Missourian Award, and Instrumentalist Of The Year Award by the Ozark Music Awards, an award he received four times.
There is a documentary available titled ‘Shoji Tabuchi: An American Dream’ which premiered at the Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex’s 9th annual Military Film Festival in November 2021. Shoji was also featured in USA Today & Time, and appeared in 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. In his days he performed with George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and Conway Twitty. The mayor made Aug. 31, 2021 the “Shoji, Dorothy and Christina Tabuchi Day” in honor of their contributions to the Branson community. This album is archived below and available on Youtube and well.