is a Japanese professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. Tanaka spent the majority of his career with

Júbilo Iwata is a Japanese professional association football, football team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J2 League following relegation from J1 League in 2024 J1 League, 2024. Etymology The team's ...

, forming a part of the team's 'glory years' that won the club's first Asian Club Championship in 1999, and three Japanese league titles between 1997 and 2002. After leaving the club in 2008, Tanaka then had a stint with

Avispa Fukuoka is a Japanese professional football club based in Hakata, Fukuoka. They currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. History Earlier years in Fujieda The club were originally based in Fujieda, Shizu ...

, before retiring at the end of the 2011 season. He was capped 32 times for the Japan national team and was part of the squad that won the

2004 AFC Asian Cup The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. ...

Club career

Tanaka was born in Shizuoka on August 8, 1975. After graduating from Shimizu Commercial High School, he joined

in 1994. From 1997, he became a regular player as center back and central player in golden era in club history. The club won many title

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, 2002 J1 League, 1998 J.League Cup and 2003 Emperor's Cup. In Asia, the club won the champions 1998–99 Asian Club Championship and the 2nd place 1999–00 and 2000–01 Asian Club Championship. He left the club end of 2008 season for generational change. He moved to

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 Yasud ...

club

in 2009. The club won the 3rd place in 2010 and was promoted to

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

. He announced his retirement at the end of the 2011 season having played over 500 in his career.

National team career

In July 1996, Tanaka was selected for the Japanese U-23 team for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. He played in all 3 of Japan's matches as they were eliminated in the group stage, despite two wins, including one against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It was known as the "Miracle of Miami" ( マイアミの奇跡) in Japan. On April 25, 2004, Tanaka debuted for the Japan national team against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. At the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, he played all 6 matches as Japan won the title. He also represented Japan at the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

. In 2006, he was called up for Japan's

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

squad, but had to withdraw after sustaining a thigh injury prior to the tournament. In total, he played 32 matches for the national team.Japan National Football Team Database
/ref>

Managerial career

In December 2023, it was announced that Tanaka would be taking on his first managerial role with J2 League club Tochigi SC for the 2024 season. After only recording three wins in his first 15 league games in charge, Tanaka was dismissed in May 2024 after only three months in charge.

Club statistics

National team statistics

National team

* 2004 Asian Cup (Champions) * 2005 Confederations Cup

Managerial statistics

Honors and awards

Individual

* J1 League Best Eleven:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Club

;Júbilo Iwata *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

: 1998–99 * Asian Super Cup:

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

* J.League Cup:

Japanese Super Cup The , the for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-match association football competition in Japan organised by J.League and the Japan Football Association. This competition serves as the season opener and is played between the reigning J1 Leag ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

International

;Japan *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second-oldest c ...

References

External links

* *
Japan National Football Team Database
* 1975 births Living people Japanese men's footballers Japan men's international footballers J1 League players J2 League players Júbilo Iwata players Avispa Fukuoka players Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 2004 AFC Asian Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players AFC Asian Cup–winning players Olympic footballers for Japan Men's association football defenders Association football people from Shizuoka (city) J2 League managers Tochigi SC managers 20th-century Japanese sportsmen {{Japan-footy-defender-1970s-stub