AKB48 Team B's Komori Mika has announced that she will be graduating from the group.

This was announced on May 9 during Team B's performance at AKB48 Theater. Komori explained, "The candidacy system for the upcoming general elections made me think deeply about my future. I've been doing this for 4 years and I thought about what's to come. I've been doing my best in my own way, but I realized that the path I want to pursue is different from AKB48."

She further revealed, "I thought about wanting to look at different worlds, and that I should have studied more after graduating high school. I made up my mind to graduate to aim towards one of my dreams, which is to study abroad."

Komori passed AKB48's 7th generation auditions in late 2008. As a research student, she was chosen as a senbatsu member for the single "Namida Surprise!" which was released in June of 2009. She joined the sub-unit Watarirouka Hashiritai 7 in summer of 2010. Last year, she ranked 64th in AKB48's general elections and was a part of Future Girls.

Source & Image: natalie