Risa Watanabe

is a former Japanese fashion model and former idol. She was an exclusive model for the women's magazine non-no She was part of the subgroup along with Rika Watanabe, Akane Moriya, Yūka Sugai and Manaka Shida. As part of the subunit, Watanabe made appearances in three songs: "Aozora ga Chigau" from Sekai ni wa Ai Shika Nai, "Wareta Sumaho" from Fukyōwaon, and "Namiuchigiwa o Hashiranai ka?" from Kaze ni Fukarete mo.

On October 8, 2016, she made her runway debut at the fashion and music event Girls Award 2016 Autumn/Winter, held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

On March 21, 2017, Watanabe attended the founding 45th anniversary event of the female fashion magazine Non-no, it was announced that she will be the magazine's exclusive model along with Nanaka Matsukawa and Aina Yamada.

On January 24, 2022, she announced that she will graduate from Sakurazaka46 following the end of promotional activities for the group's 4th single.

Personal life She is nicknamed , , Ricchan (りっちゃん), and .

Risa revealed that one of her friends told her about Toriizaka46 audition so she went with the flow simply because she could and did it with half-hearted feelings at first, not really expecting to pass the first phase of the audition. She had long hair upon joining Keyakizaka46, but before making her debut, her hair was cut by 10 cm or more to make it shorter.

As a child, she has a boyish haircut and she also claimed to only imitate what her older brother does.

She also revealed that she was able to obediently attend her Shichi-Go-San when she was 3 years old however, she refused to go due to her dislike of wearing kimono and being photographed when she was 7 years old. During her junior high school years she joined the volleyball club. Once in high school, she had said to have started dieting by eating bean sprouts she brings to school as substitute for school lunch.

Risa is close with the Japanese actress-model, Yuko Araki.

Among the members, she is close with the Rika Watanabe who comes from the same prefecture and is called W-Watanabe or BeriBeri (べりべり) by their fans. It is also notable that she is the closest with the now former member, Manaka Shida, as all other members including Keyakitte, Kakenai? MC, Teruyuki Tsuchida, have mentioned that the two are always together. They were known as one of the famous pairs in the group, dubbed as Za Kuuru or The COOL (ザ・クール), ShidaRisa (志田理佐), and MonaRisa (モナリサ).

Hobbies Watanabe's hobby is shopping. She mentioned her love for looking at transit maps of Japan.

Skills Her special skills are playing rock–paper–scissors using both hands with the right hand always beating the left hand, riding the unicycle, and using a hula hoop.

Videos Year Title EAN 2016 Risa Watanabe Risa Watanabe Risa Watanabe 2017 KeyaBingo! Tokuyama Daigorō o Dare ga Koroshita ka? Risa Watanabe

Filmography

Events

Stage Year TitleRole Ref. 2025 The Quintessential Quintuplets Miku Nakano