Born to an ex-samurai family in Hiji, Ōita Prefecture, Minami came to Tokyo as a boarding student, and was eventually accepted into the Imperial Japanese Army Academy. After graduating from the academy in February 1895, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry in May. He was promoted to lieutenant in October 1897 and to captain in November 1900.
Minami served in the Russo-Japanese War as a member of the headquarters staff and as a company commander in the 1st Cavalry Regiment, where he participated in the Siege of Port Arthur. He was promoted to major in March 1905 and to lieutenant colonel in February 1910. Promoted to colonel in August 1915, he commanded the IJA 13th Cavalry Regiment from 1914 to 1917, during World War I. He was Chief of the Cavalry Section of the Ministry of War from 1917 to 1919.[1]
Attaining the rank of major general in July 1919, Minami served as commander of the IJA 3rd Cavalry Brigade in 1921–1923, then as Commandant of the Cavalry School in 1922–1923, and returned to the Imperial Japanese Army Academy as its commandant in 1923-1924.
Minami served as a member of the Supreme War Council from 1931 to 1934. He then received a posting as Commander of the Kwantung Army from 1934 to 1936 during which he was concurrently Japanese ambassador to Manchukuo.
Minami was placed on the reserve list in 1936, after the February 26 Incident, and forced into retirement from active service.
However, in 1936, Minami was appointed 8th Governor-General of Korea, a position he then held until 1942.[4] His tenure in Korea was marked by a more hardline approach than his predecessors, with a rolling back of various liberal reforms of the 1920s. In addition, Minami outlawed all but one of the Korean-language newspapers and strongly pushed for the soshi-kamei policy.