is a Japanese former professional basketball player. She played four seasons for the

Fujitsu Red Wave The Fujitsu Red Wave are a basketball team based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, playing in the Women's Japan Basketball League. Notable players * Miwa Kuribayashi * Rui Machida * Ai Mitani *Moeko Nagaoka * Yōko Nagi *Monica Okoye *Mio Shinozaki *Ayumi S ...

of the Women's Japan Basketball League from 2019 to 2023. She represented

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

at the international youth and collegiate level. She is the wife of baseball player Shohei Ohtani.

Early life

Tanaka was born in Mitaka, Tokyo. Her brother, , is a professional rugby player. She started playing basketball at Hino Daiichi Junior High School and played in high school at . She played college basketball at Waseda University.

Professional career

Tanaka joined the

of the Women's Japan Basketball League (W League) in April 2019. She was converted to play as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

after previously playing the center position. She said her strengths included

offensive rebound In basketball, a rebound, sometimes colloquially referred to as a board, is a statistic awarded to a player who retrieves the ball after a missed field goal or free throw. Rebounds in basketball are a routine part in the game; if a shot is suc ...

ing and making plays and wanted to improve her three-point shooting in the new position. In her 12 games that season, she averaged 9.4 minutes, 3.3 points, and 3.6 rebounds per game as the team went 13–3 overall. In the 2021–22 season, she averaged 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18.8 minutes, playing every game as the team went 13–6. Tanaka averaged 4.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game in 2021–22. She was invited to her first W League All-Star Game to take part in the event's 3x3 match and was added to the main game as a reserve. The Red Wave went 17–3 in the regular season and reached the playoff finals but were swept by the

Toyota Antelopes The Toyota Antelopes are a basketball team based in Nagoya, Aichi, playing in the Women's Japan Basketball League. Notable players * Kaede Kondo * Emi Kudeken *Mika Kurihara *Evelyn Mawuli * Stephanie Mawuli * Naho Miyoshi *Mucha Mori *Moeko Nagaok ...

. Tanaka averaged 24 minutes, 7.8 points, and 6.0 rebounds per game in 2022–23. She earned a spot in the W League All-Star Game for a second time, and Red Wave coach BT Toews said she was the team's most improved player that season. She recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the final game of the regular season. In the playoffs, the Red Wave lost to the Eneos Sunflowers in the quarterfinals. Tanaka retired at the end of the season.

International career

Tanaka represented

at the international youth level at the

2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship The 2011 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Asia at the Under-17 World Championship 2012. The tournament was held in Nha Trang, Vietnam from October 18 to October 28. China defeated Korea in the championship to ...

, the

2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship The 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship (Lithuanian: 2012 m. FIBA iki 17 metų pasaulio čempionatas) was the 2nd edition of the FIBA Under-17 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U1 ...

, and the

2014 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship The 2014 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship is the 23rd edition of the FIBA Asia's youth championship for basketball. The games were held at Doha, Qatar on August 19–28, 2014. Qualification According to the FIBA Asia rules, the number of par ...

. While in college, she played with the national under-24 team and won silver for Japan at the

2017 Summer Universiade The 2017 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXIX Summer Universiade ( zh, t=第二十九屆夏季世界大學運動會, p=Dì èrshíjiǔ jiè xiàjì shìjiè dàxué yùndònghuì) and commonly called Taipei 2017 ( zh, t=台北2 ...

in Taiwan, where she averaged 20.8 minutes, 8.2 points, and 4.8 rebounds per game. She competed again at the

2019 Summer Universiade ) , Nations participating = 118 , Athletes participating = 5,971 , Events = 220 , Sports = 18 , Opening ceremony = 3 July , Closing ceremony = 14 July , Officially opened by = President Se ...

. She trained with the national 3x3 team in preparation for the

2021 FIBA 3x3 Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament The 2021 Women's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament was initially scheduled to be held in Bangalore, India from 18 to 22 March 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was moved to Graz, Austria and was held from 26 to 30 May 20 ...

but did not make the final roster, though she traveled with the team to the event.

Personal life

Tanaka is married to professional baseball player Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani announced on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

in February 2024 that he had married a Japanese woman but did not disclose her identity. He said in an interview that she was "a normal Japanese woman" he had known for three or four years. He revealed her identity the next month by posting a photograph of himself with Tanaka. They traveled together to Korea that month, and Tanaka was photographed in the stands of the Gocheok Sky Dome during a practice game between the Dodgers and the Korean national team.

Career statistics

, style="text-align:center;" , 2019–20 , , style="text-align:left" ,

, , style="text-align:left" , W League , , 12 , , 9.4 , , .619 , , .273 , , .714 , , 3.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 2020–21 , , style="text-align:left" ,

, , style="text-align:left" , W League , , 19 , , 18.8 , , .586 , , .282 , , .577 , , 4.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.9 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 2021–22 , , style="text-align:left" ,

, , style="text-align:left" , W League , , 19 , , 13.3 , , .477 , , .313 , , .800 , , 2.9 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 3.8 , - , style="text-align:center;" , 2022–23 , , style="text-align:left" ,

, , style="text-align:left" , W League , , 28 , , 24.0 , , .477 , , .250 , , .696 , , 6.0 , , 0.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.9 , , 8.9 , -

References

External links

*
Mamiko Tanaka
at the

(archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Mamiko Living people 1996 births Basketball players from Tokyo Japanese women's basketball players Japanese women's 3x3 basketball players Fujitsu Red Wave players Waseda University alumni