is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actress, represented by Avex Asunaro. She is a former member of the girl groups AKB48 and STU48. She was a fixture on AKB48's major single lineups from 2016 to 2022 and is considered one of the best singers to have been part of the group.
Okada joined AKB48 in 2012, and since 2016 has been part of the group's main lineup, performing in all the title tracks of their singles, including twice as lead singer. From 2017 to 2022, she was concurrently a member of AKB48's fifth sister group STU48, based in Setouchi region, and served as captain since its founding until 2020. She was a finalist in all the AKB48 Group No. 1 Singing Competitions, taking first place in the fourth event in 2022, and has released two solo songs as part of AKB48's releases. She has held solo concerts in 2018 and 2022 and a duo concert in 2020. Her solo debut album has been scheduled for release in November 2023.
As an actress, Okada has appeared in several AKB48 television series and starred in stage productions such as Majimuri Gakuen (2018), its sequel Majimuri Gakuen: Loudness (2021), and an all-female stage adaptation of Battles Without Honor and Humanity (2019). After joining Avex Asunaro, Okada has appeared in productions outside the group, such as the television series Stolen Love, High School Teacher (2021) and the stage musical adaptation of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic (2022).
Career
2012–2015: Early career
Okada joined AKB48 in 2012 as part of the 14th generation trainees, after failing to pass the 13th generation audition the previous year. On March 31, 2013, the AKB48 sub-unit was revealed, consisting of the most promising trainee members from AKB48, SKE48, NMB48 and HKT48. The selected members are Okada, Mako Kojima, Miki Nishino, Ryoha Kitagawa, Nagisa Shibuya, Meru Tashima and Mio Tomonaga; Okada, Kojima, and Nishino, the three AKB48 members of the unit, also became known as the The Three Musketeers were later promoted to Team 4 in August 2013, during the third day of the group's Tokyo Dome concert.
On January 29, 2014, Okada and fellow Kanagawa native members Ryoka Oshima and Rina Kawaei formed "Team Kanagawa" to promote the new trains in the Yokohama Line. Later in May, she was selected to sing AKB48's 36th single title track "Labrador Retriever".
In the sixth AKB48 Group general election to determine the lineup for their 37th single, Okada ranked for the first time in 51st place, becoming part of Future Girls which performed the song "Seikaku ga Warui Onna no Ko" in the single "Kokoro no Placard".
In September, Okada was part of the cast for the AKB48 stage adaptation of the manga AKB49: Ren'ai Kinshi Jōrei, playing Haruko Mizuno. In the group's fifth Janken Tournament, she placed 14th and appeared in the B-side of the winner Miyuki Watanabe's solo single. For the group's 38th single "Kibouteki Refrain", Okada was not selected to sing the title track, but was assigned as one of the centers (lead performers) along with Nagisa Sakaguchi for one of the B-sides, "Ima, Happy".
In June 2015, Okada placed 29th in the seventh AKB48 Group general election.
2016–2019: Rise to prominence, appointed STU48 captain
On May 28, 2016, Okada went on hiatus due to poor health. She returned three weeks later, a day before the 8th AKB48 Group general election in which she placed 14th, thus entering the elected Senbatsu for the first time. In her acceptance speech, she revealed that her hiatus was due to functional hypoglycemia and that she had considered leaving the group. This was later elaborated in her solo documentary, aired in November on TBS as the fourth episode of the series titled
Since then, Okada has become part of AKB48's main lineup and performed in all the title tracks of their singles, as well as her first solo song "Coin Toss" in the AKB48 album Thumbnail (2017). On February 22, 2017, Okada announced that she would be holding a concurrent position in the new sister group STU48 and serve as the group's captain; she would later cite this appointment as what solidified her decision to continue in the entertainment industry. In July, Okada placed ninth in the 9th AKB48 Group general election.
On January 16, 2018, Okada held her first solo concert at Tokyo Dome City Hall, billed "Nana Okada Solo Concert: My Precious Things", in which she performed 23 songs. She also released her first photobook, titled Kazaranai Hoseki and photographed in Hawaii, on February 27, and became the center (lead performer) of an AKB48 title track for the first time in the 56th single "Jabaja", released on March 14.