Akiyama Mao, a member of Hello! Project’s Tsubaki Factory, revealed that the company approved her graduation on the very same day she requested it, with no attempt made to talk her out of it. Comedian Akashiya Sanma responded to the revelation with “That’s sad.” Akiyama also shared that she moved to Tokyo alone at age 13 and used to cry every time she traveled back and forth to Osaka out of loneliness. Following her comments, discussion broke out on 5ch: some claimed Morning Musume’s Fukumura Mizuki was held back for about three years before being allowed to graduate, while others noted that Ikuta Erika, Ishida Ayumi, and Makino Maria were reportedly approached by the agency about their own graduation timing. Opinions split over Hello! Project’s graduation customs, with some arguing “there’s no such thing as being held back in the first place” and others countering that “the informal queue of roughly one graduation every six months is effectively a form of holding members back.”
What people said
1AnonymousSep 20, 2026 07:50
・ Akiyama moved to Tokyo alone at 13
Sanma: As a parent, that's just worrying. 13 is way too young to be on her own.
Akiyama: That's why every time I took the shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo, I'd end up crying from loneliness. Every single time, on the bullet train.
5AnonymousSep 20, 2026 07:52
Fukumura Mizuki was held back for about three years
7AnonymousSep 20, 2026 07:55
Sounds like the company was relieved she brought it up first. / They probably thought, 'ugh, two more to go.'
10AnonymousSep 20, 2026 07:57
Nobody actually gets held back. / Not even Fukumura.
18AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:03
Re: #10 / So if Homamei-Irairī (fan slang blending a few members' names) said she wanted to quit right now, they wouldn't stop her?
27AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:12
Re: #10 / Fukumura was held back and had her graduation postponed, though.
11AnonymousSep 20, 2026 07:58
After all it's not just Tsubaki-ota (Tsubaki Factory fans) — the same goes for Lito-Kyame-ota too. / Apparently they're dying to finally just call themselves plain 'Tsubaki-ota.' / As long as 'Oba-Kyame' (fan nicknames for specific members) is still around, they can't call themselves Tsubaki-ota — they have to say Lito-Kyame-ota instead, lol.
22AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:05
Once she graduates, she'll probably go on an overseas trip with Sasaki Rikako first.
24AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:07
Re: #18 / If she herself says she wants to quit, they're not gonna stop her.
26AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:11
Re: #24 / Nah, she'd get put in the queue and made to wait like two years. / It's the graduation-as-business-strategy thing — only one member graduates every six months.
25AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:11
Don't even need Tsubaki Factory anyway.
29AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:13
Re: #27 / It's to dodge attacks from anti-fans. / They got slammed over the Kaga thing, remember.
30AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:13
Joint graduations aren't even that rare. / The Yamagishi-Moto pair (a fan nickname for a duo who graduated together) was like that too.
40AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:21
Re: #30 / Haga-Yoko (another such nickname pair) was the same, but that's usually when there's a scandal or some unexpected incident.
35AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:20
Basically there's no real holding-back. / At most there's just a waiting list.
48AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:26
Re: #35 / But a waiting list is effectively being held back, isn't it?
41AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:22
Ikuta was reportedly told by the agency, 'It's about time now, don't you think?'
46AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:25
Re: #41 / Same with Ishida. / Makino was also approached by the agency about her graduation timing.
69AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:45
Re: #41 / You mean Ishida Ayumi, right?
51AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:28
With Ikuta, if she'd held on any longer, it would've hit the point where fans started to snap.
72AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:46
Wasn't Oda's unusually early announcement a kind of holding-back too? / Like, 'Go ahead and announce it, but actually hold off graduating for a bit.' / The group was in such rough shape that if she'd left right then it would've been a disaster.
76AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:48
Re: #72 / By that logic, Akiyama's announcement was early too, so that would count as holding her back as well.
73AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:47
There's probably no member who gets a 'please don't quit!' style holding-back. / There are probably members who say 'I want to graduate right now' and get told 'hold on a bit,' but if that same member said 'I want to graduate a year from now,' they probably wouldn't be told that.
77AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:49
Re: #73 / Isn't Sayashi kind of that pattern? / Yumeha's case is probably similar too.
74AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:47
If Kawanishi becomes leader, Tsubaki might end up outselling Juice=Juice. / Though it stings that there's no 'Yagi' (a goat-nicknamed member) in the lineup. / Actually, wait — has anyone even debuted from Shiki yet?
79AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:50
Re: #1 / > I was auditioning for all kinds of things, and I just happened to pass by chance / Classic Hello!Project: fail audition after audition, then just happen to pass one.
86AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:53
Re: #79 / Looking at the level of the ones who do pass, / yeah, it makes sense a lot of them fail over and over.
92AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:56
Re: #79 / Surprisingly, there are girls like that in the Sakamichi groups too. / Like Shiraishi — apparently she auditioned at around 10 different places, and Nogizaka46 was the one that finally accepted her.
83AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:53
Sounds like Oda originally wanted to graduate in spring. / This is less 'holding back' and more schedule adjustment, I guess. / Takase got priority.
90AnonymousSep 20, 2026 08:55
Re: #83 / It just got pushed back because of Makino and Kitagawa.
Background and Points of Debate
In Hello! Project, it’s a recurring topic when an idol’s graduation timing is said to be coordinated by the agency rather than left entirely up to the member. Morning Musume’s Fukumura Mizuki reportedly needed several years before she was allowed to graduate, and some in the thread pointed out that her graduation concert had to be postponed because it couldn’t be held during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, members like Ikuta Erika, Ishida Ayumi, and Makino Maria are said to have had their graduation timing suggested to them by the agency, underscoring the view that graduation timing isn’t decided by the member’s wishes alone. The thread also noted that graduation announcements seem to be paced at roughly one member every six months, sparking a divide between those who argue this waiting-list system amounts to a real form of being held back, and those who insist the agency doesn’t hold anyone back at all — with the important caveat that neither claim has been officially confirmed.
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