Professional mahjong player and model Saya Okada will be making her debut as a singer with Warner Music Japan. Her debut single, "Kokushi Musou LOVE," will be released on July 22nd. Okada appeared at a press conference held in Tokyo to announce her debut as a singer. While she admitted to finding her first recording experience challenging, she showed confidence, saying, "I feel pretty good about it. I'm at least at a full house."
Okada appeared wearing the outfit from her artist photo, a Chinese-style top and mini-skirt, showcasing her stunning figure, which has been dubbed a "perfect body." Regarding her debut as a singer, she revealed that she had always dreamed of becoming a singer, saying, "Actually, when I joined the talent agency, I wrote down model, talent, and singer as the genres I wanted to be in." She added, "I never thought it would actually happen, but after 15 years since my debut, I never thought I would be able to debut at this time. I'm really happy."
The title track of their debut single, "Kokushi Musou LOVE," was written, composed, and arranged by Takashi Asano, who has worked on hit songs for "M!LK." Okada said, "When I heard that Mr. Asano would be writing the song for us, I thought, 'Really? Is that okay?' When I heard the song, I thought it was a really wonderful song, and I thought that maybe even I could become a hit, so I hope we can deliver it to everyone soon."
Regarding "Kokushi Musou LOVE," he explained, "It's a song that has a strong mahjong image, and the lyrics are full of mahjong references." Okada himself said that he came up with the idea for the lyrics, thinking, "These words might be interesting," and added, "I included the phrase 'Ice, yes? No, no?' People who don't know mahjong might wonder what he's talking about."
"Kokushi Musou LOVE" will be used as the official song for ABEMA's original shogi match project "M Tournament 2026," in which Okada will also be participating. When Okada's debut as a singer was decided, she directly asked the program's staff, "I wonder if you could use it as the ending theme," and it was decided that the song would be used. She smiled and said, "I did the sales work this time." However, since her debut song will be used as the official song, she said with determination, "I really don't think I'll lose in the first round. I want to win at least a few matches, so I'm even more motivated."
When asked, "Who would you like to listen to your music?", Okada replied, "What I've always hoped for most while working in this field is that I could be the reason why more people learn about mahjong and start playing it. If a mahjong song like this becomes popular, young people who see it on TikTok and other platforms might look it up and wonder, 'What is mahjong?' and then they watch the M League and the number of mahjong players increases, that would make me the happiest, so I would be happy if I could be a catalyst for that."
The debut single includes "Kokushi Musou LOVE," as well as "Kakehiki Friday Night" and "I Have No Opponents When I Know I Can Lose." It is said to be a playful and emotionally charged single that shows Okada's side as a mahjong gambler and her true self as a woman. It will be released in three versions: a limited edition deluxe version "Yakuman Ver.", a first-press limited version "Haneman Ver.", and a regular version "Mangan Ver.".
