Minoru Shiraishi is a Japanese actor, voice actor, singer, songwriter, and radio personality born on October 18, 1978, in Ehime Prefecture. He is a graduate of Waseda University. His career in the entertainment industry began in 2002, with his first anime role being Takeshi Saehara in D.N.Angel in 2003. Over his career, he has been affiliated with several talent agencies, including I'm Enterprise and Pro-Fit, and as of 2025, he is represented by GadgetLink and later Accent.

Shiraishi's breakthrough role came in 2006 when he voiced the character Taniguchi in the immensely popular series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. His performance, particularly an ad-libbed line that became known as "WAWAWA wasuremono," gained significant notoriety and became a memorable meme among fans. This role established him as a recognizable talent in the industry.

He is perhaps most uniquely known for the 2007 anime Lucky Star, in which he voiced a character named Minoru Shiraishi, a parody version of himself. This meta-casting made him the only live-action character to appear in Newtype Anime magazine's monthly top-ten most popular male character charts. His involvement in the series extended beyond voice acting; he was responsible for writing, composing, and producing many of the live-action ending themes that featured himself and other cast members. His work on the "Lucky Channel" segments within the show further solidified his reputation for comedy and improvisation.

Throughout his career, Shiraishi has built an extensive filmography, taking on a wide variety of supporting and recurring roles. He has had a long-standing association with the Fafner franchise, voicing Kenji Kondō in multiple series and films including Fafner of the Azure, Fafner: Heaven and Earth, Fafner EXODUS, and Fafner THE BEYOND. He also continued his role as Taniguchi in subsequent Haruhi Suzumiya projects, including The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya film and The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya. Other notable roles include Sakamoto-san in Nichijou, Ouji Kōsaka in Future Diary, Kenji Yanagimoto in Seitokai Yakuindomo, Yesterday Taguchi in Abnormal Physiology Seminar, and Itsuki Takeuchi in the New Initial D the Movie series. In more recent years, his roles have included Daisuke Hiyama in Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Jade in Magatsu Wahrheit -Zuerst-, Blake Boyer in The Price of Smiles, Cetrion in Skeleton Knight in Another World, and Bolts in the Duel Masters! franchise.

In addition to his anime voice work, Shiraishi is a talented singer and songwriter. He provided much of the music for the Lucky Star ending themes and has released his own music, including forming a duo called "YouM-ix". He is also an active radio personality and, in recent years, has engaged with fans through his YouTube channel, where he streams game commentaries and other content.

In his personal life, Shiraishi announced his marriage in August 2011. He has a son, born in 2012, and a daughter, born in 2016. In December 2015, he publicly revealed that he had been diagnosed with facial paralysis, which affects the right side of his face, and that he was undergoing treatment while continuing to work.