In honour of his mentor, he regularly played Reser's original compositions, including "The Cat and the Dog", "Cracker Jack", and "Lolly Pops".

Developing as a featured entertainer, he moved on to Tokyo's Gaslight Club, and his repertoire began to include standards from other nations.

In 1964, the owner of the Sakura Gardens restaurant in Mountain View, California was in Tokyo for the summer Olympics[6] and caught Tagawa's act.

On many evenings, his banjo- or washtub bass- ("gut bucket") playing friends would come by to listen and jam.

Tagawa also performed at other venues, including a stint at San Francisco's Red Garter, a 1920s-themed nightclub with continuous entertainment.

Many of his students, including Bill Lowrey, Kevin McCabe and Scotty Plummer, went onto successful music careers.

[5] When they were eventually asked to perform in public, they chose to be called Charlie Tagawa's Junior Banjo Band.

[10] The band performed on television shows, at venues such as Marriott's Great America, at county fairs, and at charitable organizations' functions and clubs.

Several of the band's members became professional musicians, including Bill Lowrey, Kevin McCabe, Scott Hartford, Bruce Jolly, Pat Dutrow and Nori Tagawa.

[12] In 1978, Tagawa was invited to appear with Yoshio Toyama's Dixieland Saints, a band from Japan, at Stanford University.

[13] Tagawa was the winner of FRETS magazine's Reader's Poll for "Best Banjoist - Tenor or Plectrum - All Styles" award in 1982 and 1983.