Maria Abe

Abe was born on November 29, 1995, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. From a young age, she watched soccer with her father, and is a soccer fan.[3] She pursued a career as a model, and was motivated to join the AKB48 by her mother who told her that if Mariko Shinoda was a model, she could also become a model if she became an idol.[4]

In 2010, Abe passed the 10th AKB48 audition.[5] On June 12 of the same year, she passed the selection screening and became an AKB48 research student.[6]

On July 23, 2011, during the AKB48 concert at Seibu Dome, it was announced that she would be promoted to Team 4 with fellow member Anna Iriyama.[7][8]

In March 2012, it was announced that Abe be selected for the 26th single "Manatsu no Sounds Good!".[9] In November of the same year, she was moved to the Team K.[10]

In March 2013, she debuted as a runway model at the GirlsAward 2013 Spring/Summer. She modeled with Ami Maeda for ricori, a fashion brand produced by Mariko Shinoda.[4] She became a regular model for the fashion magazine Soup., since the September 2013 publication.[11] She was the third AKB48 member to become a regular model for a fashion magazine, after Mariko Shinoda and Haruna Kojima.[12]

In July 2014, she modeled at the Tokyo Fashion Collection at Pacifico Yokohama with Tomomi Kasai[13] and Mariya Nagao.[14]

Abe in November 2018

In September 2017, Abe announced that she would be moving to TPE48 at the TPE48 audition held in Taiwan.[15] In July 2018, TPE48 ended its contract with Vernalossom,[16] and became AKB48 Team TP the following month.[17]

In August 2019, she announced that she would be retiring from the AK48 idol group.[18]

In January 2021, Abe established her own YouTube channel, where she makes videos in Chinese.[19]