AKB48's Nishikawa Rei has announced her graduation from the group.

Nishikawa wrote on the group's official blog, "I really love idol work, and every time I stood on stage, I thought, 'This is fun. I don't want to graduate.' I thought about it a lot, but in the end, I arrived at the answer, 'I need to take a step forward right now to aim for my future goals.'" After graduation, she plans on devoting herself to acquiring her license as a registered dietician. 

Nishikawa will participate as planned in the group's 'Online Ohanashikai' in January and February.