Juri Watanabe is a Japanese-Korean mental health advocate and beauty queen. She has lived and studied in Japan, China and the United States and she speaks Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean.

In Japan, Watanabe attended an international school. In high school, she studied in India for a short period.

Watanabe is 5’7″ tall and she enjoys flower arrangement, boxing and playing the flute. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. Born in Meguru, Tokyo, Japan, she grew up in an Asian American home in Japan.
2. When she entered eighth grade, she moved to the U.S. with her mother to pursue a better education. Her father remained in Japan where he worked.
3. From March 2015 to June 2017, she worked for Owens and Gach Ray Law Office in Los Angeles, California, USA as an administrative assistant.
4. In November 2016, she won Miss Asia USA 2016. It was her first beauty pageant and she was the first Japanese woman to hold the title.
5. From October 2017 to May 2018, she was a community associate intern at Justa Japan in Tokyo. From November 2017 to March 2018, she worked for Tokyo Supercars K.K. in Tokyo as a sales and marketing associate.
6. In 2018, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in development economics and international development.
7. While reigning as Miss World Kyoto 2019, she was also serving as a spokesperson for the organization TELL, which provides counseling and lifeline support to the international and local communities in Japan.
8. From March 2019 to September 2019, she worked for Tokyo Creative in Tokyo as an operations associate.
9. On August 27, 2019, she competed at Miss World Japan 2019 and finished in the Top 10. In September 2019, she joined RTB House in Tokyo as an account manager.
10. In January 2021, she visited Hakuba, Nagano, Japan. In March 2021, she visited Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan then attended the annual Fashion World Tokyo Expo.
11. On September 22, 2021, she competed against 31 other candidates at Miss Universe Japan 2021 in Tokyo and won the title.
12. She was 25 years old when she was crowned Miss Universe Japan 2021.
13. On December 12, 2021, she represented Japan at Miss Universe 2021 and competed against 79 other candidates in Eilat, Israel. She finished in the Top 16.