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".
Watanabe does impersonations of popular artists in Japanese culture, among which her imitation of Beyoncé singing "Dreamgirls" and "Crazy in Love" 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. Her Instagram account has 9.9 million followers as of 23 February 2023.
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 later 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.
Watanabe was seen as a guest in the 2013 anime movie '. In 2016, she voiced the character of Ashima in the Japanese language dub of the Thomas & Friends film '. 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.
Watanabe was born in Taipei to a Japanese father and a Taiwanese mother and raised in Ibaraki. She is of Japanese and Taiwanese descent.
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".
In December 2024, Naomi Watanabe was included on the BBC's 100 Women list.