Tanaka Yoshio (田中 芳男, September 27, 1838 – June 22, 1916) was a Japanese civil servant and naturalist.

Born to a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Iida, Shinano Province, Tanaka studied pharmacognosy in his youth with Keisuke Ito.

He was part of the Japanese delegation at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where he exhibited a number of entomological specimens; this journey also gave him the opportunity to learn about Western museum curation.

[2] A decade later, his services were sought by the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to oversee the menagerie attached to the National Museum of Natural History; Tanaka took advantage of the opportunity to create Ueno Zoo.

The creation of the zoo resulted in Tanaka's promotion to Director-General of the Natural History Bureau, however he received little ministerial support for his botanical and zoological planning and resigned from the post the following year.