He was born in Hondo, Kumamoto Prefecture and took his doctorate degree in Japanese Language and Literature in the Graduate School of Gakushūin University in Tokyo.
His major works include the sci-fi space opera novel series entitled Ginga Eiyū Densetsu (銀河英雄伝説), also known as Legend of the Galactic Heroes , and the fantasy novel series Arslan Senki (アルスラーン戦記), also known as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, both of which were adapted as anime and manga.
His fantasy works also include the novel series Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings (創竜伝) that was also adapted as anime.
Tanaka is interested in Chinese history and wrote some novels set in China.
He also published two arranged-translations of Chinese literature: "Sui Tang Yanyi" (隋唐演義, "Stories of Sui and Tang Dynasties") and "General Yue Fei" (說岳全傳, "Telling the Complete Biography of Yue Fei") as "Gakuhi-den" (岳飛伝, "The Story of Yue Fei").