After graduating from Komazawa University, he joined Japan Football League (JFL) club Consadole Sapporo in 1996.

Although he played as regular player, the club finished at bottom place for 2 years in a row (1999-2000).

He played many matches as regular center back with Ricardo and the club won the 2nd place and was promoted to J1 League from 2002.

In April 2023, following the dismissal of Peter Cklamovski, Watanabe was appointed as manager of the club.

[2] Update; December 31, 2019[3] Vegalta Sendai Individual This biographical article related to a Japanese association football defender born in the 1970s is a stub.