BRANSON, Mo. — Shoji Tabuchi, who learned to play the violin as child in his native Japan and would go on to perform thousands of shows in Branson, Missouri, in a theater that bore his name, died Friday. He was 79.
Tabuchi was born on April 16, 1944, in Ishikawa. When he was 7, he told his mother he wanted to play the violin after a student in his class brought the instrument to show-and-tell.
A backstage meeting in the mid-1960s with Roy Acuff, known as the "King of Country Music," after a concert in Osaka would inspire Tabuchi to focus on country and bluegrass music.
While pursuing a degree in economics at St. Andrew University in Osaka, Tabuchi formed a band called The Bluegrass Ramblers. The band won a national contest in Japan, and Tabuchi decided to pursue a music career in the U.S.
After he arrived in the U.S. in 1967 with just his violin and several hundred dollars, Tabuchi reconnected with Acuff and performed at the Grand Ole Opry.
Tabuchi, based in Nashville, also toured with several bands, including David Houston and the Persuaders, throughout the 1970s, before settling in Branson in the 1980s.
In 1981, Chisai Childs, the owner of the Starlite Theatre, asked him to headline at her theater. At the time, Branson was home to a number of family-run music theaters but hadn't been discovered by Nashville entertainers.
"I'd never heard of Branson, Missouri," Tabuchi said in a 1991 interview with the Associated Press. "I wasn't sure about staying in one place for six months at a time. But I came here and couldn't believe all the people. I thought this much be a good place to try to strike out on my own."
In 1988, Tabuchi leased a theater on Branson's strip before building his own two years later. At his height, he performed more than 300 shows a year.
Tabuchi's wife, Dorothy, produced and choreographed the shows, and his daughter, Christina, would sometimes accompany him on stage.
Tabuchi's show attire consisted of a traditional rhinestone-studded western suit, bolo tie and black boots. And his theater's bathrooms were known for their opulence. The women's restroom included live orchids at every sink, while the men's restroom featured a hard-carved mahogany billiards table.
After the show was over, Tabuchi signed autographs and waved goodbye to fans who had come to the show—often on tour buses—to see him perform.
Throughout his career, Tabuchi performed with Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, among other country music legends.
In 2020, Tabuchi was inducted into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame in Oklahoma. He last performed in late 2022.
A cause of death was not immediately announced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.