Maeda Yuuka To Graduate From S/mileage and Hello! Project

According to various newspapers and the official H!P site, Maeda Yuuka will graduate from S/mileage and Hello! Project.
She will be graduating to concentrate on school and will retire from show business.
Here is a translation of the comment by Takamaruyo:

Thank you for always supporting me.
I, Maeda Yuuka, as of 2011/12/31, will be graduating from Smileage and Hello! Project.
Just the other day at our event, the 4 sub members became official members which made me really happy, but at the same time made me realize that it was this timing that I had to use to tell you all something very important.
Since becoming a high school student, I have been unable to keep up with my Smileage work and school at the same time and it has bothered me a great deal. I started to think about my future and realized that my desire to attend a university had grown a lot over time. I was wondering if, at this rate, if I would be able to handle both school work and Smileage, I was really only able to give a half-hearted effort on both things… and was always getting help from other people, and I really disliked that part about me. I thought to myself “Things aren’t going to work out if it keeps going like this”.
I need to work a lot harder if I want to attend a university. But that had always been just talk, up til now nothing had really changed…
If I let these feelings continue, it would not be fair to the other members, nor to all the fans that support me.
I thought a lot about it. I may not be very bright but I put all my energy into thinking about this… and came up with this as the only possible option.
As of now with the four new members joining, it has been a joy to spend every day with the members. To the original members, to the new members, and to all of you who have always supported me, I am very very grateful.
Although it may be sad, we have a new single featuring the 7 of us coming out on 12/28, and I will be working my hardest ever to make this the best one yet!
I am very grateful to so many people, and hope to really enjoy these remaining 2 months, and finish with a smile in the Smileage way!
Please continue to support Smileage from here on after.
2011-10-25
Smileage Maeda Yuuka

This is a very surprising announcement since I didn’t expect to see any more S/mileage members graduate, especially after Ogawa’s sudden departure, but it seems that school is a big priority for many and deciding to focus more on it instead of being an idol is a good decision since it seems somewhat obvious from her comment that she wants to focus on getting into a good university, despite that it is still a very sad announcement for all Yuuka fans.
S/mileage has always been among the groups that is the most active, mainly due to their many events, shows, and appearances on other shows, so it’s not surprising to see that many members have had some trouble keeping up with their work at school. I’m a big fan of Yuuka so I’m very disappointed about the news, but school is always a priority and I hope many fans can support her as she focuses on her academic work.
It’s very disappointing to see S/mileage’s original members leave the group so quickly since the group has always been very close since the start, but like always personal life is more important than performing on stage so I wish the best to Yuuka in her studies.
Thankfully the graduation will be at the end of the year (exactly at the end) so fans will be able to support her through her last single as well as any more events she attends.
Maeda Yuuka will graduate on 12/31.