Raised for a decade in the youth ranks of hometown club Kawasaki Frontale, Tanaka made his J1 League debut in September 2018 against Consadole Sapporo, scoring his first professional goal just six minutes after he was subbed on.

[10] In the summer of 2021, he was named in the 22-man squad for the 2020 Olympic Games alongside 2 Kawasaki Frontale ex-teammates, Kaoru Mitoma, and Reo Hatate.

[11] He played his first match in the AFC qualification tournament for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on 12 October 2021, where he scored his first international goal in a 2–1 home win against Australia.

The dispute was only settled after the match when the Associated Press released a crucial evidence, the bird's eye photo of the ball, taken by Petr David Josek.

[16][17] Josek revealed that a total of four agencies — AP, Reuters, AFP and Getty Images —[17] were approved to enter the suspended catwalk to take bird's eye photos, but the latter three missed the shot because they were at the opposite side of the pitch anticipating a Spanish goal instead.

[16][17] Tanaka is the childhood friend of fellow Japan international and former Kawasaki Frontale teammate, Kaoru Mitoma, who currently plays for English Premier League club, Brighton and Hove Albion.