Eriko Imai

Imai Eriko is a Japanese singer, actress, and politician. As a singer, she debuted as the second-youngest member of the group SPEED. Her acting debut was in 1998 on the movie "Andromedia," featuring all members of SPEED. After the group's disbandment in 2000, she began her solo career in collaboration with dance group Crunch as "Eriko With Crunch." Once the collaboration ended in 2004, she returned to the music industry under the name of "Elly." Imai married in 2004 to 175R's vocalist Shogo. That same year, the two had a son, and later in 2007 divorced. Imai's son is deaf and in 2008 she began learning sign language, and later in 2010 hosted NHK's sign language education program: Minna No Showa. As a politician, Imai ran as a candidate for the Japanese House of Councillors under the Liberal Democratic Party in the 2016 elections and won.