13 things about Miss Universe Japan 2021 Juri Watanabe

Juri Watanabe (渡邉珠理) represented Japan in the 70th edition of Miss Universe. It was won by Harnaaz Sandhu.

BIOGRAPHY

Watanabe is a Japanese-Korean entrepreneur, actor, model and beauty queen born in Meguru, Tokyo, Japan. She is the first Miss Asia USA winner of Japanese descent.

Having lived and studied in Japan, China, India and the U.S., Watanabe is fluent in Japanese, Korean, English and Chinese. She is an alumna of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, United States and the Quantic School of Business and Technology in Washington, D.C., USA.

On August 16, 2025, Watanabe turned 30. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In high school, she studied in India for a short period.
2. Raised in an Asian American home in Japan, she attended an international school in the country.
3. When she entered the eighth grade, she moved to the U.S. with her mother while her father remained in Japan where he worked.
4. From March 2015 to June 2017, she worked for Owens and Gach Ray Law Office in Los Angeles as an administrative assistant.
5. She won Miss Asia USA 2016, which was her first beauty pageant.
6. From October 2017 to May 2018, she was a community associate intern at Justa Japan in Tokyo.
7. From November 2017 to March 2018, she worked at Tokyo Supercars K.K. in Tokyo as a sales and marketing associate.
8. She reigned as Miss World Kyoto 2019 while she was serving as a spokesperson for the organization TELL, which provides counseling and lifeline support to the international and local communities in Japan.
9. She was a Miss World Japan 2019 finalist.
10. From September 2019 to December 2021, she worked for RTB House in Tokyo as an account manager.
11. She won Miss Universe Japan 2021.
12. She was a Miss Universe 2021 semifinalist.
13. From April 2022 to January 2023, she was a WASABIT community manager in Tokyo.

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TIMELINE

Watanabe is 5’7″ tall. She enjoys flower arrangement, boxing and playing the flute.

2010s

• In November 2016, she was crowned Miss Asia USA 2016.
• In May 2018, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in development economics and international development.
• From March 2019 to September 2019, she worked for Tokyo Creative in Tokyo as an operations associate.
• On August 27, 2019, she represented Kyoto at Miss World Japan 2019 at the Ana Intercontinental in Minato, Tokyo and finished in the Top 10.

2020s

• In January 2021, she visited Hakuba, Nagano, Japan.
• In March 2021, she visited Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan then attended the annual Fashion World Tokyo Expo.
• On September 22, 2021, she competed against 31 other candidates at Miss Universe Japan 2021 in Tokyo and won the title.
• 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.
• On August 25, 2022, she crowned her successor Miss Universe Japan 2022 Marybelen Sakamoto at Yamano Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo.
• In December 2022, she joined myAir Smart Wellness as a business development manager.
• In February 2023, she founded SHINKA, which aims to empower ambitious men and women leaders to master confidence, communication and presence.
• In May 2023, she earned her master’s degree in business administration from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.
• She played Rhonda in Gustavo T. Astudillo’s short film “Positive Reinforcement”, which was released in the U.S. on June 20, 2024.
• In August 2024, she was featured in GR8T magazine, which marked her first magazine cover spread.
• In March 2025, she attended the Tokyo Fashion Week 2025.