Devlog #5: Why is it called Minamo?

Someone recently asked me whether Minamo was named after Mixamo.

It actually wasn’t, but I realized I had never shared where the name came from, so here’s the story.

Minamo is derived from the Japanese word みなも (水面, minamo), meaning “the surface of the water.”

The idea behind this name comes from the relationship between the surface and what lies beneath it. From above, the surface of a lake appears simple, calm, and clear. However, beneath that surface exists a much more complex world that is hidden from view.

This is also the philosophy behind Minamo. For clients, Minamo provides a simple and consistent S3-compatible interface — just like a calm water surface that is easy to interact with. Behind that interface, Minamo handles the complexity of storage systems, including different storage backends, tiering, caching, and data management.

Minamo aims to keep the surface simple while allowing the complexity underneath to remain invisible, creating a clean and reliable experience for clients.