“We shot it during the M League season,” Nakada said. “It felt like a brief vacation amid the days I spend competing with a serious expression. It cleared my head before the semifinals, and I really enjoyed the shoot.”
Her favorite photograph comes from a shower scene in which a camisole is soaked with water. Nakada described it as particularly sensual and singled it out as an image she wanted readers to see.
The wider book is intended to show a different register from both her match-day demeanor and her earlier photobooks. Nakada said the photographs preserve natural, softer expressions and the enjoyment of the location rather than feeling heavily constructed. She hopes that contrast will also introduce another side of her to people who first found her through professional mahjong.
Vietnam was a first visit for Nakada. She recalled the hotels and villas, a dry pho-like noodle dish and Hoi An’s busy streets at night, and said the experience made her want to travel abroad more.
The release follows her second photobook by only a year. Nakada said she was grateful for the short interval, particularly because she had not expected to continue doing so much gravure work after leaving idol activities. She described gravure as a way to preserve individual forms of beauty in her own work.
Mahjong remains her immediate priority. With a new M League season beginning in September after her team missed the championship the previous year, Nakada said she wants to contribute more and become a player capable of competing for many years. Even meals with fellow professionals, she joked, tend to return to the day’s mahjong or a live match rather than beauty talk.
Event details
Photobook: Bougainvillea
Publisher: Kodansha
Launch press conference: August 25, 2026
Location: Kodansha
Source: GirlsNews
