Watanabe is a well known collaborator working with artists like Wes Anderson, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Laurie Anderson, Jason Moran, Yo-Yo Ma, Eva Yerbabuena, Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad Ensemble[5], and Rhiannon Giddens, among others.[6][7][8][9]
He is also working on film music, contributed to the music in movies like Silence,[10] "Ultraman: Rising",[11] "Shrek Forever After", and "Isle of Dogs".[12] Since 2017 he has collaborated with Adam Rudolph in his albums and live performances.[13][14]
Watanabe established the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center and performs with the Kaoru Watanabe Taiko Center Ensemble.[15]
In 2024, Watanabe launched and became the artistic director of the Bloodlines Interwoven Festival, featuring artists like Layale Chaker, Mino Cinélu, Amir ElSaffar, Matt Garrison, Maeve Gilchrist, Alicia Hall Moran, Susie Ibarra, Martha Redbone, Jen Shyu, Nasheet Waits, Du Yun, Jeffrey Zeigler and others.[16][17][18][19][20] Among many performances around the country, he has performed at the Lincoln Center in New York.[21]
In 2023 he was teaching as Artist-In-Residence at the Loyola University.[22] He is also teaching using the platform kaDON, which aims at supporting the taiko community with access to instructors and musical instruments.[23] Watanabe has also taught courses at Princeton University, Wesleyan University, Colby College, and Dickinson College.[24] He is also part of the artistic family at The Canales Project.[25]
In 2016 he published an album, Néo, "a synthesis of dignified taiko drumming with the jazz sensibility of improvisation".[26]