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Naomi Watanabe: Challenging Japan’s female beauty standards – BBC 100 Women, BBC World Service



Naomi Watanabe is a Japanese comedian who wants to conquer New York, and she also wants to challenge Japan’s female beauty standards.

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“People say, oh my God, you are fat! Don’t show me your arm!”

Naomi Watanabe is a Japanese comedian, fashion icon and social media powerhouse, with 10 million followers on Instagram. Affectionately known as ‘the Japanese Beyonce‘, she’s now making a name for herself on the international comedy scene.

Her ability to unapologetically embrace who she is has helped her break down body image norms in Japan – a culture that idealises skinny women – and led her to create her own fashion line, inclusive of plus-size women. She has featured on the cover of Vogue Japan and in fashion campaigns with brands such Adidas, Hugo Boss and Fendi, and also hosts her own podcast as she navigates her new life in New York.

As she takes on her next challenge of breaking into the US comedy scene, BBC 100 Women sat down with Watanabe to discuss her work as a body positivity icon, how it feels to be one of Japan’s most-loved personalities, and how to be funny in a different language.

00:01 Meet Naomi Watanabe
01:17 Debut show in NY
02:19 ‘Funny fashion, funny acting, funny dancing’
02:48 ‘I’m not skinny, not tiny’
03:40 ‘We are the punyos’
04:52 Body positivity
05:41 What her audience think of her
06:28 Naomi’s childhood
07:43 Why she chose comedy
08:38 Dating in America
10:47 Performing in English
11:09 ‘New York is special’

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40 comments

  4. Wow, Naomi!!!
    Thank you BBC, it was great interview.
    I’m so proud of Naomi, keep challenging in overseas.

    インタビュアーの方をあっという間に笑顔にしてしまう持ち前のスキル。
    前向きで飾り気のないハートが素晴らしくて、見習わないとと思い直させてもらいました。
    ありがとう😊
    応援してます❤

  5. Promoting not being skinny is ok is great, but showing that overeating is OK and becoming as fat as you can possibly become is OK is very bad for the people who have food addiction issues and those who don't have the motivation to exercise or move. She has a beautiful face, that's why she looks great. Many skinny people wouldn't look beautiful like her if they'd put on weight.

  9. Lizo Japanese version、って感じに見られるのかなぁ。直美さんはコメディアンだもんね。　　Lizoは　デブの踊れるシンガーだもんね。

  11. This is such a fun interview! I've never heard of Naomi Watanabe before, but I'm going to check her out now. I love people, especially women, who aren't afraid to break out of the status quo and conventional beauty norms.

  13. ‘Challenging Japan’s female beauty standards’… That title would make sense if she were a model, but she’s a comedian.

  19. First off she’s not curvy, she’s obese, curvy means big hips with a slim waist, for some reason overweight people have felt the need to steal the word curvy away from actual curvy women. She can whine about ‘hate’ all she wants but trying to make being obese seem ‘okay’ is dangerous, the world has an obesity problem. I don’t understand why to break body image standards in japan we need to push other unhealthy bodies? Why cant we idolise healthy people? Idolising this womans body is as dangerous as idolising an anorexic woman.

  21. 「考える葦」の「アシ」も「選択肢」の「アシ」もいっぱい。
    一度限りの固有の人生が、一杯の皿にサラで詰まっている。
    器の見た目の大きさと、精神性の深さは必ずしも比例しない。

  23. There is absolutely NOTHING authentic about her, she’s wearing FAKE light eye colored contacts to conceal her NATURAL brown eye color. She is so ashamed of herself and her soul, that she has to conceal it with fake light eye colored contacts!! How awful for her.

  26. I love her so much!!! Been following her on insta since 2019, her energy is so positively infectious

  28. I love Naomi ❤ whenever i visit japan i feel a bit self conscious about my body but when i go to Punyus I feel comfortable! The staff working there are also lovely!

  30. She is beautiful, her personality obviously cute but at the same time, when she speaks english. She sounds so sophisticated, Welcome to the US, Naomi! I hope to see you more often everywhere.

  31. Naomi Watanabe is half-Japanese half-Chinese/Taiwanese. Very similar to Naomi Campbell, who is 3/4 black & 1/4 Chinese. Both Naomi’s look alike. 😊

  33. More like Japanese Lizzo 🤣😂🤣😅.
    But the Real Question is What is the BBC NOT reporting on
    This is a slight of hand to take attention off something else.

  34. My first time hearing of Naomi Watanabe but i was curious. I hope to see more of her now that she's in the U.S.

  35. Wow well done Naomi. So versatile, happy to see her crossover. Can’t believe she’s doing stand up in English!

  36. Utterly pseudo-liberal nonsense. Most of her works in Japan was letting people to laugh at her including her fat jokes, which might not be a bad thing, but that's not ''challenging beauty standards'' for sure.
    And calling it ''Japanese beauty standards'' is pretty hypocritical since that's basically univarsal standards and the west has been by far the most influential for that.

  39. As a Japanese, I hate Japanese comedians who go abroad and get naked for laughs, but I love the fact that she tries to get laughs with her talk.

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