Emi Watanabe

Emi Kathleen Watanabe (渡部 絵美), is a Japanese former competitive figure skater who is the 1979 World bronze medalist and an eight-time Japanese national champion. She was the first skater to medal for Japan in ladies' singles at the World Championships.

Personal life
Watanabe's mother is Filipino and father is Japanese. She graduated from Golden Valley High School in Minnesota.

Marriage
She married a man nine years older than her who was an Olympic ice hockey representative in 1989. They had a son in 1991, but later divorced in 1992. Watanabe had custody of the child and raised her son alone for 30 years without financial support.

Watabe remarried in September 2020 to an ordinary man six years her junior. According to reports, the man is an employee of a broadcasting company.

Skating career
In the 1972–73 season, Watanabe won Japanese national titles on both the junior and senior levels. She then made her World Championship debut, finishing 17th.

In the 1975–76 season, Watanabe took bronze at the 1975 Skate Canada International and then won her fourth national title. She was assigned to the 1976 Winter Olympics and finished 13th. She was 17th in her final event of the season, the 1976 World Championships.

Watanabe broke into the World top ten at the 1978 World Championships, placing 8th. The next season, she won the bronze medal at 1979 Worlds, becoming the first Japanese lady to medal at the event.

In her final competitive season, Watanabe won gold at the 1979 NHK Trophy and then won her eighth national title. She placed 6th at the 1980 Winter Olympics. She ended her competitive career at the 1980 World Championships, where she placed 4th.

Later career
After retiring from competitive skating, Watanabe went into show business and helped to popularize figure skating in Japan while becoming a national celebrity through her numerous appearances on television and in magazines and newspapers. She continues to run figure skating camps in Japan and currently hosts a podcast on TBS radio.

Watanabe ran for The House of Councilors election in 2001 from Liberal League, but lost.