is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

club

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history i ...

. He was a participant at 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and scored 1 goal in 3 appearances.

Club career

Tanaka was educated at and played for Maebashi Ikuei High School in

Gunma is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima P ...

. While he was a high school student, he was chosen as one of the Designated Players for Development by J.League and JFA. Because of this status, He was able to register as an

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the f ...

player while he was still eligible to play for his high school club. He played two league games for Albirex in the 2005 season. He made his debut on 27 November 2005 in a J1 League away match against Nagoya Grampus Eight. After graduating from his high school in 2006, he officially signed with Albirex Niigata. His first appearance as a professional player came on 5 March 2006 in a league match against

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara ...

. His first professional goal came on 8 April 2006 in a league match against

Ventforet Kofu is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu. The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French ...

. After scoring once in five matches for his new team

in the

2015 Finnish League Cup The 2015 Finnish League Cup is the 19th season of the Finnish League Cup, Finland's second-most prestigious cup football tournament. SJK are the defending champions, having won their second league cup last year. The cup consists of two stages. F ...

, he scored on his

debut against

RoPS Rops may refer to: People * Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), French writer and historian * Félicien Rops (1833–1898), Belgian artist Places * Rops (peak), a mountain in Kosovo Sports * Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), a Finnish football club T ...

in a 3–1 away win on 12 April. In October 2015 of the same year, HJK exercised their option of keeping Tanaka under contract for the 2016 season. Tanaka was voted as a best eleven member in 2015 and 2016 in the Finnish League. On 25 October 2017, it was announced that Tanaka would leave HJK at the end of the 2017 season. He is playing for Cerezo Osaka for the 2018 season. On 3 March 2020, Tanaka returned to

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history i ...

, signing a contract until the end of July.

International career

Tanaka was a U-20 international and took part in the

2006 AFC Youth Championship The 2006 AFC Youth Championship was the 34th instance of the AFC Youth Championship. It was held from 29 October to 12 November 2006 in India. It was the first time for India to host this tournament. Sixteen teams from the AFC qualified to the f ...

and 2007 U-20 World Cup. He scored 1 goal in 8 appearances for this tournament.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

Team of the Year:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Notes

References

External links

Profile at Cerezo Osaka
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Atomu 1987 births Living people Association football people from Niigata Prefecture Japanese footballers Japan youth international footballers J1 League players Albirex Niigata players Veikkausliiga players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Cerezo Osaka players Japanese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Finland Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Finland Association football midfielders