is a Japanese comedian, actress, and fashion designer. She rose to fame in 2008 for her imitation of

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

, after which she was given the title “the Japanese Beyoncé”.

Career

Watanabe does

impersonation An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...

s of popular artists in

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ance ...

, among which her imitation of Beyoncé singing "

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

" and "

Crazy in Love "Crazy in Love" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, featuring a rap verse and ad-libs from her future husband Jay-Z from her debut solo studio album ''Dangerously in Love'' (2003). The song was released as her official debut single a ...

" quickly became popular. She has also 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 Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

''. Her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account is followed by 9.3 million as of 18 March 2021.

Guest appearances

Watanabe was seen as a guest in the 2013 anime movie '' Crayon Shin-chan: Very Tasty! B-class Gourmet Survival!!''. In 2016, she

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer ...

the character of

Ashima Ashima (; la, Asima) is an ancient Semitic goddess. Ancient Middle East Asima was a West Semitic goddess of fate related to the Akkadian goddess Shimti ("fate"), who was a goddess in her own right but also a title of other goddesses such as ...

in the Japanese language dub of the ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' film ''

The Great Race ''The Great Race'' is a 1965 American Technicolor slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Arthur A. Ross (from a story by Edwards and Ross), and with music by Henry Mancin ...

''. In 2019, she was featured in '' Queer Eye: We're in Japan!,'' Season 1, Episode 3, The Ideal Woman. In March 2021 she announced her intention to move from Japan to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

the next month. She has appeared in ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'' magazine.

Personal life

Watanabe was born in

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother and raised in Ibaraki: She is of Japanese and

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

descent.

Discography

Singles

As a featured artist

Filmography

Variety shows

Film

Television drama

Animation

Japanese dub

;Live-action ;Animation

Notes

References

External links

Naomi Watanabe's profile
at

Yoshimoto Kogyo is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in 1912, Osaka, as a traditional theatre, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular owarai (comedy) talent, produci ...

Punyus
(fashion brand) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Naomi 1987 births Living people Japanese film actresses Japanese musical theatre actresses Japanese television actresses Japanese voice actresses Japanese women comedians Japanese fashion designers Japanese people of Taiwanese descent Japanese women fashion designers 21st-century comedians 21st-century Japanese actresses