Former AKB48 idol Nana Okada has come out as nonbinary.
In a recent interview with Aera, the 26-year-old singer expressed that they are attracted to both men and women albeit not explicitly coming out as bisexual.
Okada has not specified which pronouns they are comfortable with as the Japanese language does not use gendered third-person pronouns.
They also mentioned how there was a time when they were younger when they liked boys and gave chocolate to boys around Valentine’s’ but this changed when they joined the idol group.
The singer also shared that they had dated a woman back in 2017 during their tenure in AKB48, which started in 2012.
Despite this revelation, it was not until last year that Okada was forced to announce their graduation from the group after a dating scandal with a fellow celebrity, Ino Hiroki, 30.
Many fans called out Okada’s alleged hypocrisy, citing comments she made in 2017 about “changing the group to reward members who work hard and avoid scandals.”
The singer then explained, citing that it was during a period when they could not imagine falling for a man.
“And that was a big mistake. The love between women should be weighed the same as the love of a woman with a man. Looking back, there were many things 19-year-old me didn’t understand, and I thought through a narrow worldview,” Okada said.
