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

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Naomi Watanabe is a Japanese comedian who wants to conquer New York, and she also wants to challenge Japan's female beauty standards. Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM "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’ The BBC 100 Women team has a mission to address the under-representation of women in media. If you are interested in their content check out this playlist 👉🏽 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4cbktJ5umbEcZTeaQO2v86O ---------------- This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel. If you like what we do, you can also find us here: Instagram 👉🏽 https://www.instagram.com/bbcworldservice Twitter 👉🏽 https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice Facebook 👉🏽 https://facebook.com/bbcworldservice BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio Thanks for watching and subscribing! #BBCWorldService #WorldService #bbc100women #naomiwatanabe