Nihonga painter. He studied under Kubota Beisen and Hirafuku Hyakusui. He joined the Asahi Shimbun in 1909 and illustrated Natsume Soseki’s serialised novels The Poppy and Sanshiro among others. From 1916 Watanabe published his actor prints. Grounded in likeness, his sets of actor portraits caught the breathing of the player and the air of the play as well, and won popularity as the large-head actor print of a new age.