Yuki Arai was an idol with the music group SKE48 from November 2013 until the end of March 2025.
That’s a very long run in a very competitive, crowded industry, but she’s not done yet.
The 26-year-old Kyoto native will now focus on her a second career as a professional wrestler, which she launched while still a member of SKE48’s Team KII, in May 2021, after a brief appearance in 2018 in a match against another SKE48 member.
She currently competes in both Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling and DDT Pro-Wrestling.
Female wrestling in Japan is experiencing a boost right now, with several prominent performers and even a Netflix drama, The Queen of Villains, about the colorful scene in the 1980s, when joshi puroresu really boomed (it was the era of legends like Cutie Suzuki, Dynamite Kansai, and so on).
Yuki Arai is clearly enjoying success as a wrestler because she is set to publish her first print photo book.
Invincible Face, which sounds like the ring name of a wrestler, comes out from Kodansha on May 23. It features an exotic location and some pics of Yuki looking pretty in swimwear and lingerie, plus at least one of her in a bath.
From the preview images, though a few shots show off Yuki’s slinky body under the lingerie, the shoot seems relatively tame like most music idol photo books, which is a bit of a shame, because female wrestlers are known for their more explicit shoots in the past.
If Invincible Face, sells well, perhaps it will establish a pipeline from music idols to joshi puroresu and then to gravure.
Here is Yuki Arai in action in the ring. Imagine the moves she can make in bed!
