Minami (美波)

Overview

Minami (美波, born September 14, 1997) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. After winning the Grand Prix at an audition held by the anime music label FlyingDog, she made her major debut, and since 2025 she has been working independently. Her music is categorized as anime, J-pop and J-rock.

Career

Before the major debut

Inspired by live footage of Yutaka Ozaki ("Taiyō no Hahen") that she saw as a junior high student, Minami began writing lyrics; after entering high school she bought a guitar, started composing, and began serious musical activity. In 2017 she released her first mini-album Emotional Water and first single "main actor," sold in limited quantities at Tower Records stores in Shibuya, Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. On August 24 that year she held her first solo concert at Shibuya eggman, titled "Emotional Water my teen finale" because it fulfilled her dream of headlining a show as a teenager.

She won the Grand Prix at FlyingDog's 2nd audition and announced her major debut at her second solo show, "ETERNAL BLUE," on February 21, 2018. On April 1 she held her first Osaka show at Minamihorie knave but was unable to finish singing, so she returned to the venue on August 18 for "ETERNAL BLUE Never forget April." In summer 2018 she toured for the first time with "LILAC," visiting seven venues and ending at Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO on September 9. She made her first live radio appearance on September 3, her first festival appearance at THE GREAT SATSUMANIAN HESTIVAL 2018 on October 8, and held the two-day solo shows "Ame wo Matsu," at Shibuya eggman and Shibuya WWW on November 3 and 4.

After the major debut

Minami performed "Kawaki wo Ameku," the opening theme of the TV anime Domestic na Kanojo (Domestic Girlfriend), which began airing in January 2019. It was released on January 30, 2019 as her major-debut single and ranked No. 1 on Oricon's weekly digital album chart and No. 14 on the weekly CD single chart. In spring 2019 she held her first post-debut live and first solo tour, "Kawaki wo Ameku," at eight venues.

She went on to release singles including "Ame wo Matsu," (2020), "DROP" (2021), "Good Lucker" (2022), "Rude Loose Dance" (2023), "LOSE LOOSE Day" (2023), "Luna say maybe" (2024), "Good Morning" (2024), "Suichū Reflection" (2024) and "Kissing the machine" (2025). On March 30, 2024 she held her first Nippon Budokan concert, Minami JOYINT in Nippon Budokan, and from March 25 "Good Morning" was used as the fifth theme song of TV Asahi's morning information program Good! Morning. She also wrote the lyrics and music of "Luna say maybe" for the character Tsukimura Temari (voiced by Ojika Nao). Since 2025 she has left her label and works independently, with the domestic and Asia tour Timesick Traveler 2027 beginning in January 2027.

Musical style and persona

Ozaki's influence led her to songwriting, and she composes her own songs around the guitar, using instruments such as the Martin GPC-Aura and OO-28 and a Fender Mustang. Before her debut she streamed acoustic covers and original songs on TwitCasting, and she values closeness with her fans. Outside concerts she does not show her face, using an illustration as her official profile image.