is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for Veikkausliiga club HJK Helsinki. He was a participant at

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

in Canada and scored 1 goal in 3 appearances.

Club career

Tanaka was educated at and played for Maebashi Ikuei High School in Gunma. While he was a high school student, he was chosen as one of the Designated Players for Development by

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

and JFA. Because of this status, He was able to register as an Albirex Niigata 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 The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

away match against

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 ...

. 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. His first professional goal came on 8 April 2006 in a league match against Ventforet Kofu. After scoring once in five matches for his new team HJK Helsinki 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 Veikkausliiga debut against RoPS 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 is a Japanese professional football club based in Osaka. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Cerezo'' (Spanish for cherry blossom) is also the flower of the city of 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 ...

and

2007 U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

. He scored 1 goal in 8 appearances for this tournament.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

* Veikkausliiga 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 trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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