Former Morning Musume member Asuka Fukuda has opened up for the first time on her divorce that took place last year. Asuka originally got married in 2015, but divorced shortly after in July 2016. She shared the news on her official personal blog.

Asuka apologized to her fans for the inconvenience and if the sudden announcement caused any worry. Asuka was straight forward for why she and her husband decided to go through with the divorce. She shared that it had become extremely difficult to maintain a normal family life and co-operate with each other. The two had huge miscommunication issues due their widely different opinions on parenting policies and values.

A lot of the issues started after Asuka gave birth last February, as there was conflicts as to whether Asuka should continue to work or not. Asuka quickly knew that things wouldn’t work out in the long run. The announcement was delayed due to their child still being so young. Asuka will still keep a positive relationship with her ex husband so both of them are in their child’s life as it continues to grow up. She closed the statement saying that she will do everything in her power to make her child happy, and do her best in being both a mother and pursuing her musical activities.

Asuka was one of the original members of Morning Musume, appearing in their first four singles. Her final release with the group was the 1999 single “Memory Seishun no Hikari”. She graduated from the group in April 1999 citing that she wanted to focus on her studies. She had the shortest tenure out of any other Morning Musume member.  In 2011 Asuka resurfaced as a member of the vocal group ” PEACE $ TONE”.

(via Oricon)