Min or MIN may refer to:
Min is the Mandarin pinyin and Wade–Giles romanization of the Chinese surname written 闵 in simplified Chinese and 閔 in traditional Chinese. It is romanized Man in Cantonese. Min is listed 132nd in the Song dynasty classic text Hundred Family Surnames. As of 2008, it is the 193rd most common surname in China, shared by 520,000 people.
Min'yō (民謡) is a genre of traditional Japanese music. The term is a translation of the German word "Volkslied" (folk song) and has only been in use since the twentieth century. Japanese traditional designations referring to more or less the same genre include "inaka bushi" ("country song") "inaka buri" ("country tune"), "hina uta" ("rural song") and the like, but for most of the people who sang such songs they were simply "uta" (song). The term min'yō is now sometimes also used to refer to traditional songs of other countries, though a preceding adjective is needed: Furansu min'yō = French folk song; for this reason, many sources in Japanese also feel the need to preface the term with "Nihon": Nihon min'yō = Japanese [traditional] folk song.
Many min'yō are connected to forms of work or to specific trades and were originally sung between work or for specific jobs. Other min'yō function simply as entertainment, as dance accompaniment, or as a components of religious rituals.
Min'yō are also distinct depending on the area of Japan, with each area boasting its own favorite songs and styles. The songs found in the far northern island of Hokkaidō and sung by the Ainu people are usually excluded from the category of min'yō. In the far south, (especially Okinawa) distinct genres of min'yō, differing in scale structure, language and textual forms, have developed as well.
Minóy was the pseudonym of the electronic art musician and sound artist Stanley Keith Bowsza (October 30, 1951 - March 19, 2010). He was a major figure in the DIY noise music and homemade independent cassette culture scene of the 1980s. He released over 100 compositions.
Stanley Keith Bowsza chose his pseudonym Minóy based upon how someone he met mispronounced the name of one of his favorite artists, the Catalan Surrealist Joan Miró. He is recognized as a master of controlled noise. He lived and worked in Torrance, California.
Minóy produced some of the most remarkably engrossing, beautiful and imaginative work-of-art albums released on cassette in the 1980s, often with hand made covers. Minóy was an agoraphobic but prolific noise artist intensely active in the music underground between the years 1986 and 1992. During that period he created many unique audio works in collaboration with other sound artists and mail artists. Minóy was an avid mail collaborator, collaborating with noted experimental American composers such as PBK (Phillip B. Klingler) (also as Disco Splendor), If, Bwana (as Bwannoy), Damian Bisciglia a/k/a Agog (as No Mail On Sundays), Zan Hoffman (as Minóy\Zannóy), Dave Prescott (as PM), Not 1/2 (as El Angel Exterminador), and many others.