Female Idol Stuns Fans With A Tearful Announcement — She’s Leaving Her Group
After seven years, a female idol has announced that she will be leaving her group this summer.
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Nakano Airi is a member of SKE48’s Team S. SKE48 is a popular Japanese idol girl group that has sold nearly 11 million CDs in Japan since their 2008 debut. Like many idol groups in Japan, SKE48 has a graduation system where old members graduate and new members are added to the group. Nakano joined Team S, a 14-member group under SKE48, in 2017.
On July 15, Nakano stunned fans by announcing her upcoming graduation during Team S’s “Boku no Taiyou” theatre performance in Nagoya, Japan. “I, Nakano Airi, will be graduating from SKE48,” she said tearfully. “There’s still a month and a half left, and with my photobook coming out too, I hope I’ll still get to see many of you until the end.”
Nakano’s last group activity with SKE48 will occur on August 31, 2025. She hasn’t announced her future plans yet, but she hopes that fans will continue to cheer her members on.
Team S is a wonderful team, and I hope you’ll continue supporting them—and SKE48—just like always.
— Nakano Airi
