Minayama Oki signed a pair of gold of Ariwara no Narihira's journey to the east with the split signature 応・起, and the published sources open nearly every entry on him with the same short biography. He was a pupil of Otsuki Mitsuoki. His common name was Naoichi, and he lived at Nijo in Kyoto. His first signature was Oko (応興), which he later changed to Oki (応起), and he used the art-names Reibokudo and Chikufudo. The calls him a craftsman of the Otsuki school of Kyoto and dates his work to the late period. One entry places him in the succession of skilled hands that the Otsuki line produced from Mitsuoki onward, with Otsuki Mitsuhiro, Kawarabayashi Hideoki, Tenkodo Hidekuni and Matsuo Gassan, at a time when, it says, the group enjoyed a period of great prosperity.
His subjects come largely from classical literature and legend, and the Narihira scene from the ninth section of the Tales of appears twice. On the first pair, a mounted noble turns to look back, his gaze directed, the published sources suggest, toward snow-capped Mount . The pair is finished in with on gold, and the judges it "an outstanding example among his works". The second pair is modelled especially high, with Narihira's attendants on one and Mount on the other, so that a bold composition is carried by fine, delicate . The deep chisel work and the placement of the coloured metals are called apt, and the , towering among clouds with its slopes spread long and wide, "truly magnificent." The commentary closes that this piece "freshly reaffirms Oki's standing as a key figure among Kyoto metalworkers."
His materials are varied. Two pairs of his are in solid gold (), one pair is on gold, and another on a gold base with applied gold (). His are worked on polished plates in and , or on a plate with , carved in high relief and inlaid in gold, silver, and . On a pair of melon the finds "the unrestrained, open manner characteristic of Kyoto " in both the arrangement and the modelling. Its power of direct observation is called outstanding. The fine leaf veins are cut with smooth, expansive chisel work, while the melons, in deliberate contrast, are modelled with rich fullness, and the carving is clean and lofty in tone.
The published sources read his development in the two signatures. A matched set of , and carries the early name Oko. It is worked on in shallow relief with coloured metals and finished in a tidy manner. Looked at closely, its chisel work "has not yet reached the fluent and fully flowing manner seen in works signed Oki," yet strength is felt in each stroke of the and . The calls it an earnest work, valuable with its early signature for understanding his range. The mature pieces are signed Minayama Oki with a , and the carry the name split between the two halves.
His larger compositions are landscapes and figures. A set of and shows the cherry blossoms of Arashiyama on the larger set and the maples of Takao with flowing water on the smaller, so that together they convey Kyoto's spring and autumn. Dense, well-raised and fine render the distant scenery with depth, and the published sources write that the picture "overflows with poetic feeling." They credit his composition, his solid carving and his placement of coloured metals alike. The set has a box inscription by Ikeda Takao. On a of the wind and thunder gods, Raijin faces downward in energetic motion on the and Fujin turns his face upward on the . The carving is minute and incisive yet powerfully masculine, and the calls it an inspired work in which Oki fully realized his abilities.
The latest designated piece, a pair of solid-gold of the Setsubun exorcism, shows the same close observation. The setsubun ornaments and an oni are coloured in applied gold. The beans on their tray and the holly with a sardine's head are worked more elaborately than usual. The holly leaves are dried and twisted, with worm holes here and there, and the crouching oni's spine and the muscles of his hips and legs are carefully expressed. Oki's designated record is seven works, all at the rank and designated between 1982 and 2024; there are no pieces among them. Four are pairs of and three are fittings sets, each carrying his signature, and no current holder or old provenance is recorded against them. His work comes to light only now and then, and a signed piece in solid gold or a landscape set in coloured metals shows the side of his art the published sources praise most.