[2] He became interested in shogi as a fourth-grade elementary school student after watching some friends play and asked his father to teach him the rules.
[3] Shortly thereafter, he started frequenting a local shogi club to improve his skill.
As a first-grade junior high school student in 1997, Tanaka finished third in the 18th All-Japan Junior High School Student Invitational Shogi Tournament [ja].
[3] In September of the following year, he entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school as a student of shogi professional Shigeru Sekine [ja] at the rank of 6-kyū.
[4] He obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in April 2008 after finishing tied with Akira Inaba in the 42nd 3-dan League (October 2007 – March 2008) with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses.