Haruo Minami

, born , was a Japanese enka singer and rōkyoku performer. His song "Tokyo Gorin Ondo" was the theme song of the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Early life He was born Bunji Kitazume in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan.

Career In 1939, at the age of 16, Bunji debuted as a performer of rōkyoku, a type of narrative singing, under the name . Among his many hit songs was "Tokyo Gorin Ondo", the theme song of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

In 1992, Minami enjoyed a popularity resurgence when he performed the ending music for the Fuji Television series Super Zugan. Previously popular primarily among adults, enka music gained many younger fans due to this song.

Death On April 14, 2001, Minami died of prostate cancer at a hospital in Tokyo, at the age of 77.

Approach to audience Haruo Minami is known for popularizing the saying "Okyakusama wa kamisama desu". It is directly translated, "The guests are kami", meaning "the customer is always right" or "the customer is a god" symbolising patronage. When he sang his songs, he was concentrating as if to pray before kami. He looked on his audience as kami to make his performance perfect. His words were spread by Let's-Go-Sanbiki, a trio of Japanese comedian that had come to watch Minami's show.

In October 2016 his voice was released for software synthesizer CeVIO Creative Studio.