is a former Japanese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager. He played for the Japan national team.

Club career

Tanaka was born in Saitama on November 2, 1955. After graduating from

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

, he joined Nippon Kokan (later ''NKK'') in 1978. The club won the champions at

1980 JSL Cup Statistics of JSL Cup in the 1980 season. Overview It was contested by 20 teams, and Nippon Kokan won the championship. Results 1st Round * Yomiuri 3-2 Yamaha Motors *Furukawa Electric 3-2 Fujita Industries *Honda 3-0 Tanabe Pharmaceuticals ...

and 1981 Emperor's Cup. From 1985, the club won the 2nd place for 3 years in a row and won the champions 1987 JSL Cup. He retired in 1988.

National team career

On July 15, 1982, Tanaka debuted for Japan national team against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. In November, he played at

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games ( hi, 1982 एशियाई खेल) were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of ...

. In 1983 and 1984, he played at 1984 Summer Olympics qualification. He played 20 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 1984.Japan National Football Team Database
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Coaching career

After retirement, Tanaka started coaching career at NKK in 1989. In 1993, he became a manager for Japan U-20 national team. At 1995 World Youth Championship, he led U-20 Japan to advanced to the quarter-finals. In 1995, he signed with

Nagoya Grampus Eight (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

and became a coach. In November 1997, he became a manager as

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, ...

successor. He was sacked in April 1999. In 2001, he signed with

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

club

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

and managed the club until 2002. In 2016 Tanaka was appointed manager of Matsue City FC (松江シティフットボールクラブ), (renamed FC Kagura Shimane, FC神楽しまね, 2022)

Club statistics

National team statistics

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
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References

External links

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* 1955 births Living people Meiji University alumni Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers Japan Soccer League players NKK SC players Japanese football managers J1 League managers J2 League managers Nagoya Grampus managers Shonan Bellmare managers Footballers at the 1982 Asian Games Men's association football midfielders Asian Games competitors for Japan Association football people from Saitama (city) {{Japan-footy-midfielder-1950s-stub