is a Japanese

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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. She plays for Hwacheon KSPO WFC and has also played for the Japan national team.

Club career

Tanaka was born in

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

on 23 April 1988. After graduating from high school, she joined Tasaki Perule FC in 2007. However, the club was disbanded in 2008 due to financial strain. She moved to

INAC Kobe Leonessa INAC Kobe(INAC神戸レオネッサ, Ainakku-Kōbe Reonessa) is a professional Japanese women's soccer, football club from Kobe, founded in 2001. INAC stands for International Athletic Club, while Leonessa means Lioness in Italian language, Ita ...

in 2009. She was selected Best Eleven in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. She moved to German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in July 2013. In October 2014, she returned to

. She moved to Korean

WK League The WK League (Hangul: WK리그) is a semi-professional women's football league, run by the Korea Football Association (KFA) and the Korea Women's Football Federation (KWFF), which represents the sport's highest level in South Korea. Icheon D ...

club Gyeongju KHNP.

National team career

In November 2008, Tanaka was selected by the Japan U-20 national team for the 2008 U-20 World Cup. In March 2011, Tanaka was selected by the Japan national team for the

2011 Algarve Cup The 2011 Algarve Cup was the eighteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 2–9 March 2011. Format The twelve invited teams were split into three groups that pl ...

. At this competition, on 4 March, she debuted against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In July, she played at the 2011 World Cup as Japan won the championship. She also played at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and the 2015 World Cup. Japan won 2nd place at both tournaments. She played 39 games and scored 3 goals for Japan until 2016.

Club statistics

* Champions League

National team statistics

List of match i
2011

at Japan Football Association

National team Goals

Honors

International

; Japan National Team *

AFC U-17 Women's Championship The AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, founded as the AFC U-17 Women's Championship and later the AFC U-16 Women's Championship, before changing to its current name after the 2019 edition, is a biennial women's football tournament for youth teams organise ...

: Champion:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

: Champion:

Club

; INAC Kobe Leonessa * L.League : Champions:

Empress's Cup , since 2018 renamed "Empress's Cup JFA Japan Women's Football Championship" () or The JFA Empress's Cup (from 2024 onwards), is a Japanese Women's football competition. As an elimination tournament, it can be considered the female counterpart to t ...

: Champions:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Japan and South Korea Women's League Championship Japan and South Korea Women's League Championship (, ) was a women's association football competition between the clubs of L. League, Nadeshiko League (Japan Football Association, Japan Women's Football League division 1) winners and WK-League (Kor ...

: Champion: 2012 ; Frankfurt *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: Champion: 2013–14

Individual

* L.League Division 1 : Best Eleven: 2011, 2012

References

External links

* * * *
Japan Football Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Asuna 1988 births Living people Association football people from Sakai, Osaka Japanese women's footballers Japan women's international footballers Nadeshiko League players Tasaki Perule FC players INAC Kobe Leonessa players Eintracht Frankfurt (women) players Japanese expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Japanese expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate women's footballers in South Korea FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Olympic footballers for Japan Olympic silver medalists for Japan Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Women's association football midfielders 21st-century Japanese sportswomen