While still a student, he was influenced by his newspaper journalist brother towards a literary career, and towards membership in the Japan Communist Party.

This experience led to two novels: Orinposu no Kajitsu (The Fruit of Olympus, 1940) and Tantei Soshu (The Boat Rower, 1944).

In 1935, he was hired by the Yokohama Rubber Company and was sent to Keijo, or today's Seoul, Korea under the Japanese rule.

After World War II, Tanaka re-joined the Japan Communist Party, but was so critical of its leadership that he was later expelled.

He committed suicide at the grave of Dazai Osamu in 1949 by cutting his wrists after taking an overdose of sleeping pills.