is a Japanese comedian, actress, and fashion designer. She rose to fame in 2008 for her imitation of Beyoncé, after which she was given the title "the Japanese Beyoncé".
Biography Watanabe was born in Taipei to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother. The family moved to Japan shortly after her birth and she was raised in Ibaraki . She is an only child. Her parents divorced when she was very young. During that time, Watanabe recalls what living in poverty was like, especially when she was five or six years old; her mother struggled to find stable work because she was a foreigner and could barely understand the Japanese language. Her mother later remarried when Watanabe was eight years old. She also shared that her mother's new husband was only interested in her mother and did not care much about her, so she often felt lonely as a child.
Career Watanabe does impersonations of popular artists in Japanese culture, among which her imitation of Beyoncé singing "Dreamgirls" and "Crazy in Love" became popular. She has launched her own fashion line called Punyus (loosely translated to "chubby" in English), and played the role of Mabel in the musical Fame and Tracy Turnblad in the musical Hairspray.
Watanabe made her musical debut in 2017, as a featured artist on Japanese-American singer Ai's single "Kira Kira". The song served as the opening theme song for the Japanese drama Kanna-san!, with Watanabe as the lead actress. "Kira Kira" was nominated for the Grand Prix Award at the 59th Japan Record Awards.
In 2022, she appeared as a featured artist on a Japanese remix of Doja Cat's 2021 single "Kiss Me More".
In 2025, Watanabe and the comic duo Chocolate Planet formed N-choco. They released their debut single "Elusive" with M-Flo.
Guest appearances Watanabe appeared as a guest in the 2013 anime movie Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!!. In 2016, she voiced the character of Ashima in the Japanese language dub of the Thomas & Friends film The Great Race. In 2019, she was featured in Queer Eye: We're in Japan!, Season 1, Episode 3, "The Ideal Woman". She has appeared in Us Weekly magazine.Us Weekly, 13 December 2021, p. 46.
Personal life In March 2021, she announced she would move from Japan to the United States. Watanabe relocated to New York City, describing it as a "major rebirth".
Awards In December 2024, Naomi Watanabe was included on the BBC's 100 Women list.
Discography
Singles
As a featured artist +List of singles as a featured artist, showing select chart positions and associated albumsTitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbumJPN Hot 100 "Kira Kira"(Ai featuring Naomi Watanabe) 2017 19 Wa to Yo "Kiss Me More"(Doja Cat featuring Naomi Watanabe) 2022 — "Gods' Play" 2026— Idol1st"—" denotes items that did not chart.
Filmography
Variety shows Year Title Network Notes 2010–2014Waratte Iitomo!Fuji TV 2011Saturday Night Live JapanFuji TV 2023Takeshi's Castle (2023)
Film Year Title Role Notes 2012 Tug of War! 2013 R100 2018 Sunny: Our Hearts Beat Together Ume2020 The Untold Tale of the Three Kingdoms Diaochan The Promised Neverland Krone
Television drama Year Title Role Notes 2011Deka WankoYūsha Yoshihiko 2014A Time of Love 2016The Hiddens2019Queer EyeGuest2020Followers2025OmusubiAkipiAsadora
Animation Year Title Role Type Notes 2007 Sazae-san TV 2013 Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!! Film 2015 Chibi Maruko-chan: A Boy from Italy Film 2020 Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur Natalie Film2021Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The MovieZirconia2-Part filmSeason 4 of Sailor Moon Crystal2022Deemo: Memorial KeysSachetFilm2025ElioAmbassador AuvaFilmEnglish and Japanese versions
Japanese dub Live-action Year Title Role Voice dub for Notes 2015 Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb Tilly Rebel Wilson 2015 Pixels Serena Williams 2016 Ghostbusters Dr. Abigail L. "Abby" Yates Melissa McCarthy 2018 I Feel Pretty Renee Bennett Amy Schumer 2022 Ghostbusters: Afterlife Gozer / Mini Marshmallow Man 2025 Wednesday Rosaline Rotwood Lady Gaga
Animation Year Title Role Voice dub for Notes 2016 Thomas & Friends: The Great Race AshimaTina Desai 2017 Coco Frida KahloNatalia Cordova-Buckley 2022 Minions: The Rise of Gru Master ChowMichelle Yeoh
Notes
References
External links Naomi Watanabe's profile at Yoshimoto Kogyo Punyus (fashion brand)