Yuka Suzuki continues post-AKB48 career with sexy photo shoot

The graduation of various leading members and the restrictions placed on live, in-person events by the pandemic have greatly reduced the presence of AKB48 and its sister groups in popular culture. The groups retain strong followings, of course, but the days when AKB dominated advertising and TV shows seem over.

As such, even the little scandals seem to pass us by. We missed that Yuka Suzuki (鈴木優香) was forced to graduate AKB48 last September due to an alleged romance (oh, the horror!) that first emerged in spring 2021.

Following her ignominious departure from AKB48, Yuka Suzuki quickly launched a solo gravure career in October (a month after officially leaving the group), and has since started her own fan club. The 21-year-old Shizuoka native continues to do bikini and lingerie shoots, and Weekly Playboy released a digital photo book in November, though we get the sense that Yuukarin is going about things somewhat haphazardly. Her Instagram page lists a Gmail email address as her work contact! Doesn’t she have an agency?

Her most recent shoot for Friday, shot by gravure veteran photographer Koki Nishida, and promoted (a little disingenuously) as her “first sensual shots.” It’s tastefully done, though it drops plenty of hints about Yuka’s key assets: her F-cup breasts.

However, if she really wants to make a splash in the competitive world of gravure without the safety net of a music brand behind her, she may need to up the ante somewhat. We encourage her to take a leaf out of Ayaka Umeda’s playbook.