Eriko Imai

Eriko Imai (今井 絵理子) is a Japanese pop singer, actress and politician.

She made her debut in the early 1990s as part of the group Speed, which disbanded in March 2000.

Eriko began her work away from Speed during 1998, performing "Tsumetaku Shinai de", under the stage name "Eriko with Crunch", on the Speed single "All My True Love".

After Speed's popularity spread widely in Japan, they were asked to act in the movie Andromedia in 1998, Eriko's first acting experience.

Eriko also appeared in the drama "LxIxVxE" in 1999 with fellow Speed member Hitoe.

When Eriko began her solo career in early 2000, she teamed up with the dance group Crunch and the unit was named "Eriko with Crunch".

Their first two maxi singles, "Red Beat of My Life" and "Luv is Magic" were released the same year.

"Eriko with Crunch" was short-lived, and Imai began her solo career with the single "In the Name of Love", released in 2000.

Also during this year, Eriko participated in her first musical, Ninagawa Hi no Tori, for which she earned a "Best Newcomer in Theatre" award at the Golden Arrow Awards 2001.

Her second solo single, "Identity", was viewed as a changing point in Eriko's career.

Many viewed the music as hard-core rock.

The music video for her third single, "Set Me Free", was shot in Australia, and Imai performed the song in Kuala Lumpur during the 2001 Asia Music Festival.

In 2001, Imai released her first album, My Place.

Including her self-composed songs "Himawari" and "Dawn", it sold 93,700 copies and peaked at No. 7 on the weekly Oricon chart.

During this year, Eriko performed in her second drama, , and appeared in the movie Onmyoji.

Eriko's fourth solo single, "Don't Stop the Music", was aired on Eriko's weekly Monday night radio talk show "Eriko Imai Hot Link" more than a month prior to its release in January 2002.

The single was seen as a change of genre in Eriko's music.

At around this time, Eriko considered changing her hairstyle to an Afro.

She said that she wanted something new, but was willing to return to a more Japanese-typical hairstyle if the Afro hairstyle reduced her appeal.

In July, Eriko released her fifth solo single, "Our Relation", an upbeat, high-tempo ballad.

"Our Relation" was the second single to be fully produced by Hiroaki Hayama, also used as the second opening theme to Captain Tsubasa: ROAD to 2002.

Also in 2002, Eriko appeared in her second musical, Footloose, with V6 member Masayuki Sakamoto, which was extremely well received.

From the end of 2002 to mid-2003, Eriko put a temporary hold on solo releases, mainly due to the temporary reformation of Speed for charity Save The Children.

Speed became the ambassadors of Save The Children until the end of 2003, during which time they performed on nationwide tours and released singles and an album to raise funds for the charity.

It was not until July of that year that Eriko released her sixth and last single, "Butterfly".

"Butterfly" was a ballad written by Eriko under the name "Elly".

This was the first time Imai officially used the name "Elly" on one of her works.

The song was also the theme song for the anime movie Boku no Songokū, Eriko's first role as a voice actor.

That October, Onmyoji 2 was released in Japan, with Eriko reprising her role as the magic spirit Mitsumushi.

Between February and March 2004, Eriko performed in the musical Star Tanjō with Hitomi Shimatani and Yukie Nakama.

During May 2004, Eriko posted a short message on her official website to officially announce on her marriage to 175R vocalist Shogo.

The message talked briefly about the marriage, and she apologised due to its sudden nature.

She also mentioned a new life which would be with us on Earth in the upcoming October.

Lastly in the message, Eriko asked for guidance on her change from single to a wife and a soon-to-be mother.

On 9 June 2004, she and Shogo were married in a shotgun wedding.

She also registered her name as Eriko Kinoshita upon the change.

Their son, Raimu Kinoshita, was born on 18 October 2004 weighing 3492g.

After the group disbanded, Imai continued her career as a solo artist until Speed's reformation in 2008.

Imai was born in Okinawa.

She was the second-youngest member and one of the main vocalists in the female J-pop group Speed.