I was going to begin this review by saying that Shoji Tabuchi is a phenomenon but that is not quite right. Shoji Tabuchi is more of what one would call an event. He has been an event ever since he landed on our shores nearly 30 years ago.
Shoji arrived, with a friend of his, on the seacoast of our nation with a violin, $500 in his pocket, $100 stuffed inside his shoe, with no promises and knew no one in our great country, but he had plenty of dreams. Dreamers have been responsible for nearly all our heritage of beauty and culture and Shoji, having been a dreamer most of his life, set out to conquer America with a violin, at least one little spot in America. Shoji is perhaps the ultimate dreamer because with only those dreams and a violin, not forgetting his initial $600, he arrived and became “Shoji.”
The story of Shoji started in the small town of Daishoji, Japan, where he was born and raised. He had a sister, a brother and was the son of highly successful parents. Shoji started taking lessons on the violin at the age of 7 and never lost his love of the instrument, or his love of music.
When Roy Acuff, of the Grand Ole Opry, took his act to Japan, Shoji heard him perform, met him, talked with him and Roy invited Shoji to look him up, if he was ever in the neighborhood. Shoji, in time, would take him up on his offer.
From the country sound and the inspiration that Acuff provided, Shoji formed his own bluegrass band, called the Bluegrass Ramblers, in Japan, made a good living with it and garnered awards with his performances. With that experience under his belt, Shoji headed for the United States.
To make a 15-year leg of his odyssey a bit more compact, it would be suffice to say that Shoji played for a lot of people, including nearly every big name in the industry, before arriving in Branson. Branson had never seen anything like it, a Japanese violin player who played country western music. However, no one could say that he wasn’t good. As a matter of fact, he was great. This was attested to by the fact that he had played numerous times on the Grand Ole Opry, the womb of country music. Before landing his own theater, Shoji played with a couple of Branson shows and became one of their highest paid performers and it was at that point in his career that he decided to branch off on his own.
Branching off, meant to Shoji, the dreamer, to be the most lavish theater Branson, or most of the country had ever seen, complete with a perfect, unsparing show of Broadway quality. When people are asked what they think of Shoji’s show, almost to a person their reply has to do with how lavish the restrooms are. I have to admit they are quite opulent, with the men’s room sporting gold-plated fixtures, lots of greenery and a full-sized billiards table. However, it is a bit disconcerting to be using the men’s room and have people flashing cameras all around you. You aren’t quite sure how you are going to appear in Aunt Mabel’s album back home.
Shoji, as I said earlier is an event but beyond that, he is a remarkable person. There is a list comprising the 60 most influential Asian Americans and Shoji ranks number 29. He is in good company with the likes of Connie Chung, a TV journalistic pioneer, Roman Gabriel, former quarterback for the Rams, Daniel K. Inouye, War hero and United States Senator and Yo-Yo Ma, the high-brow icon of world class cellists. Others of familiar note on the list include Bruce Lee, the all-time benchmark of martial arts and George Takei of Star Trek fame.
With the number of people that Shoji entertains each year, he has come a long way in easing Japanese American relations. Many servicemen, servicewomen and others, who have attended his show have finally set aside their long held prejudice and have literally rallied around Shoji in celebration of their newfound personal freedom.
Shoji has done well for himself through the years but it has come at the high price of blood, sweat and tears. Things were not always easy and nothing was given to him. He dreamed it, went for it, worked for it and achieved what he set out to do.
Shoji’s wife and partner of many years, Dorothy, is the one responsible for the elaborate production that will awe and amaze anyone attending their show. There is absolutely nothing in Branson, or for that matter, almost anywhere else in the United States that can compare to it. It is truly a Japanese Disneyland, complete with familiar, and some not so familiar, oriental trappings and characters.
From the beginning of the show, with the playing of the ceremonial Odiako, to the last curtain call, you will sense beauty, bathed deep in richly formatted Japanese lore and custom. You will be enthralled by the authenticity of the Noh Theater masks to the beauty of the many Geishas in obied kimonos and their Mikado, to the original Japanese three-stringed Shamisen that Shoji plays onstage.
Shoji has not lost the Japanese twang in his voice and uses it quite skillfully and successfully, whether talking to the audience or singing country and Broadway songs. He is an extremely talented, dedicated and hard working performer who takes immediate charge of the stage and does not relinquish that lead, until the final bow is taken. Shoji, dressed in his colorful, one-of-a-kind, sequined costumes, richly adorns and reigns on the stage, as he gives you a tremendous performance you will not soon forget.
Think about it, Shoji Tabuchi is not really known very much outside of Branson. He has never had a record on the charts or one on the national market, and you do not catch him regularly on TV. Yet for the past decade and a half, Shoji has taken Branson by storm and has created a multi-million dollar entertainment empire. Tourists, mostly from the Bible-Belt states, which, for the most part, made up the original Louisiana Purchase, flock to his theater along side hundreds of bus tours.
Shoji Tabuchi is an event. The event is not only his immense talent on the violin, but the wonderful way his show easily blends the cultures of the east and the west together. Shoji melds the two into a show that is almost unbelievable in its scope, splendor, magnitude, richness and grandeur. So, I would suggest you go to Shoji’s theater, check out the richly adorned lobby and of course, the lavish restrooms, and then take your seats for the Japanese Disneyland experience of your life.
Editors note: Shoji Tabuchi was recently awarded the DAR Americanism Award and is in nomination for the highly prestigious National DAR Award.
© Copyright 2004-Kurt L. Moore-All Rights Reserved.
klmoore@earthlink.net