Nanami Yamada of AKB48’s Team 8 will be suspending all her idol activities starting 10th October 2018. She cites her failing health as the official reason. She will not be participating in any events as well as updating her social media accounts during her recuperation. Her management will announce her return to her activities as soon as they are able.

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Team 8 is the fifth team formed from AKB48. Unlike the other four teams, this team does not consist of the previous members; rather, they are made up of girls hailing from and representing each of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Instead of carrying the AKB48 concept “Idols you can meet,” the concept of Team 8 is “Idols who go meet you”. The group is sponsored by Toyota, and travel all over the world as part of the “Cool Japan” soft culture initiative.