Aika Ota made the surprise announcement to depart HKT48 in a move the
strips the pop idol group of one of their most senior members.
Aika Ota, Captain of HKT48′s Team KIV, drops the bombshell as she
announces her impending graduation from the pop idol group. Ota
represents one of the last remaining 3rd Generation AKB48 members which
included names such as; Yuki Kashiwagi, Ayaka Kikuchi, Yuki Matsuioka,
Haruka Nakagawa, Mayu Watanabe, and Rumi Yonezawa, of which only a
handful still remain in the 48 Family of Groups. Aika Ota started her
career with AKB48 in 2007 and transferred to sister group HKT48 in
November of 2012.
The decision sent shockwaves through the audience present at the
January 17th performance at HKT48 theater. Following the show Ota shared
a post via social media “I started thinking about graduating when I was
19. When I turned 20, I decided I would graduate following the AKB48
10th Anniversary. These past few years I have thought carefully about
whether I would have any regrets, I finally found closure when I talked
to Mr. Yasushi Akimoto and my agency about the possibility of leaving.”
Post-graduation Ota plans on pursuing an acting career. A graduation concert will be held at HKT48 Theater on April 10th.
HKT48 is an all-female Japanese theater/idol group produced by
Yasushi Akimoto. The group is named after Hakata-ku, Fukuoka city of
Fukuoka Prefecture, where Yasushi Akimoto had originally intended the
group have its roots. Due to a series of unknown circumstances HKT48
theater had instead landed in Hawks Town Mall in neighboring Chūō-ku,
Fukuoka.
Plans for the group were first revealed on November 19, 2008 with the
group officially making their debut on May 1, 2011 at an AKB48
handshake event. The group is the fourth AKB48 sister group to be
launched, after the groups SKE48, SDN48 and NMB48. HKT48 released their
debut single, “Suki Suki Skip!” on March 20, 2013 under the Universal
Sigma record label.
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