Minami Kuribayashi is a Japanese singer, songwriter, lyricist, and former voice actress born on June 11, 1976, in Shizuoka Prefecture. Her birth name is Kumiko Murakami. From 2016 to 2019, she performed under the stage name Minami. Her career is notably distinguished by her close involvement with the game and anime franchise Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, where she provided the voice for the character Haruka Suzumiya and also performed and wrote theme songs for the series.

Kuribayashi's career began with a focus on music. While in college during the late 1990s, she formed a band and was eventually scouted by the game company age. She sang the theme song for their game Kimi ga Ita Kisetsu in 1999. Her first voice acting role came a year later for another age game, Kaseki no Uta, for which she also performed the theme song and voiced the character Priere. Her breakthrough role, however, arrived in 2001 with the game Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, where she voiced the heroine Haruka Suzumiya. Her performance brought her significant attention, and the opening theme song for the anime adaptation, Precious Memories, which she also performed, became a commercial success, peaking at 17th place on the Oricon charts.

As a voice actress, Kuribayashi is best known for her role as Haruka Suzumiya. She reprised this character in various related productions, including the OVAs Akane Maniax, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien ~Next Season~, and the internet anime Ayumayu Gekijou. In Ayumayu Gekijou, she also voiced the character Kasumi Yashiro. Her other notable voice roles include Erstin Ho in the television anime Mai-Otome and its game adaptation My-Otome: Otome Butoushi!!, and Minami Obuchi in the School Days television anime, its OVA, and its games. She also voiced multiple characters in games from the Muv-Luv franchise, including Kasumi Yashiro and, again, Haruka Suzumiya. Her first voice acting role was Priere in the game Kaseki no Uta.

While her voice acting work is concentrated, her career as a singer is extensive and highly successful. She has performed numerous theme songs for popular anime series, many of which she also wrote the lyrics for. These include Tsubasa wa Pleasure Line for Chrono Crusade, Shining☆Days for My-HiME, Dream☆Wing and Crystal Energy for My-Otome, Love Jump for Kure-nai, unripe hero for Blassreiter, STRAIGHT JET for Infinite Stratos, and HAPPY CRAZY BOX for Medaka Box. Her musical contributions have consistently charted well on the Oricon charts. In 2009, she publicly announced that she was undergoing treatment for sudden hearing loss.

Kuribayashi has also been involved in several musical collaborations. She has performed as part of the group Wild 3nin Musume with Joy Max and Kisho Taniyama, and she once formed the duo exige with fellow voice actress and singer Chiaki Takahashi. Furthermore, she has participated as a supporting vocalist for the musical group Sound Horizon, contributing to their albums Moira and Märchen. Her work in the Japanese doujin music scene has earned her the nickname miracle utahime, or miracle songstress. Kuribayashi has been active since 2002 and is affiliated with the music label Lantis.