<figure id="attachment_461339" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-461339" style="width: 788px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="4a92726e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/c4e3f69a6d645ca9d241b5f958ace963.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-461339" class="wp-caption-text">Eriko Imai has been a member of the House of Councillors since &#8217;16. Although her entertainment activities are on hiatus since becoming a member of the House of Councillors, &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span class="strongInContent"> Live concerts in August and September to celebrate 30th anniversary</span></h2>
<p> SPEED, a girl group representing the &#8217;90s, will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year.</p>
<p> The group consists of leader Hitoe Aragaki (44), Takako Uehara (43), Eriko Imai (42), and Hiroko Shimabukuro (41). formed in 1995, their debut song &#8220;Body &amp; Soul&#8221; was a hit, selling 630,000 copies.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> Their fifth single, &#8220;White Love,&#8221; released in October 1997, sold 1.84 million copies. The following February, &#8220;my graduation&#8221; coincided with the graduation season and sold 1.47 million copies.</p>
<p> The group temporarily disbanded in March 2000. After reuniting for a limited time in 2001 and 2003, the group announced a full revival in August 2008, but in 2001, the leader, Niigaki, left the office. In 2003, Shimabukuro, aka &#8220;Hiro,&#8221; and Imai formed &#8220;ERIHIRO,&#8221; but Imai was elected to the House of Councillors the year after they released a single song. Since then, they have been inactive.</p>
<p> In &#8217;21, in the 25th anniversary year of their formation, they released a tribute album &#8220;SPEED SPRITS&#8221;. The jacket illustration was designed by Niigaki, who also works as a designer. And this year &#8211; it is surprising that SPEED is already celebrating its 30th anniversary.</p>
<p> Currently, only Shimabukuro is active as a singer. On March 7, she announced that &#8220;HIROKO SHIMABUKURO 30th Anniversary Live 2026 -SPEED WAY-&#8221; will be held in Tokyo on August 30 and in Osaka on September 13 to celebrate her 30th anniversary.</p>
<p> There will be,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> This will be a special live concert featuring only SPEED songs.</span></p>
<p> It seems that the live concert will be held with the 30th anniversary in mind.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> A source from the record company <span class="strongInContent">said, &#8220;It&#8217;s sad that only Shimabukuro-san will be performing as a singer despite the 30th anniversary. Fans would love to see the four members of SPEED, even if it is just for one night.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Imai&#39;s thoughts on SPEED can be found at ......"></div>
<h2><span class="strongInContent">I just want to go back to SPEED for one day.</span></h2>
<p> In response to an interview by this site, a person involved in entertainment production who knows the situation revealed, &#8220;For Ms. Imai, SPEED is an irreplaceable part of her life.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> For Ms. Imai, too, SPEED is irreplaceable. It seems that he thinks it would be unbearable for SPEED to be reduced to a small group after the 30th anniversary. Although the members are currently working independently, they are not at loggerheads. Shimabukuro, who is a singer, is very attentive, and Imai says, &#8216;I want to help in any way I can.'&#8221;</span></p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> Imai ran for and won the LDP&#8217;s Upper House election in 2004. After serving as Parliamentary Vice Minister of the Cabinet Office, he was reelected to the upper house in June 2010, despite a tough race.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He is a member of the SPE, but he is still an active member of the SPE. Although she is an active member of the Diet, SPEED is her starting point, and she believes that &#8216;this is different from that. She looks back on SPEED numbers in her spare time, pretending and singing along.</span></p>
<p> However, since she has been involved in a number of scandals in the past, there is a possibility that she will be criticized by her detractors if she makes a surprise appearance. Although the LDP won an overwhelming victory in the recent lower house election, winning 316 seats, it still holds a minority in the upper house. The LDP cannot afford to give the opposition parties any opportunity to take advantage of the LDP&#8217;s position.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In this social networking society, the number of malicious video clippings has increased. The United States and Israel have attacked Iran, and there are fears of further price hikes in the country. It is obvious that if an active Diet member engages in entertainment activities in such a situation, it will cause controversy.</span></p>
<p> On the other hand, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (65) has a strong sense of duty and humanity, as can be seen from the catalog gift issue.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If Ms. Imai said, &#8216;I want to return to SPEED for one day for my fans,&#8217; I think she would say yes.</span></p>
<p> A reporter from a national newspaper who works in Takaichi.</p>
<div data-friday-ad-slot="AD_inArticle"></div>
<p> So, this site asked Imai&#8217;s office, &#8220;Do you plan to work as SPEED?&#8221; &#8220;Will she join Shimabukuro&#8217;s tour?&#8221; but no answer was received by the deadline.</p>
<p> From a fan&#8217;s point of view, we hope that as many SPEED members as possible will get together. &#8230;&#8230;⁉︎</p>


 Takeshi Kinugawa

 This year marks the 30th anniversary of the debut of the girl group "SPEED. However, the only one who is still active is Hiroko Shimabukuro, and that is a sad state of affairs. She will be performing in August and September to commemorate the anniversary. ......

SPEED&#8221; is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but &#8220;only Hiroko Shimabukuro is working&#8221; and Councillor Eriko Imai has started warming up.

SPEED” is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but “only Hiroko Shimabukuro is working” and Councillor Eriko Imai has started warming up.

Access Ranking