Tanaka was born in the uptown
Akasaka district of
Tokyo as the son of a historian; however, he was listed under his mother's maiden name of “Tanaka” in the
family register rather than his father's surname of Iwasaki. He grew up in
Kamakura and was a graduate of
Waseda University’s School of Political Science and Economics. While still a student, he was influenced by his newspaper journalist brother towards a literary career, and towards membership in the
Japan Communist Party. However, he was discouraged by the corruption of the senior leadership of the party, and left before graduation. Shortly after graduation, he met
Dazai Osamu, who became his mentor. Also while still a university student, Tanaka was a member of the
Japanese Olympic team to the
1932 Los Angeles Olympics, where he participated as a
rower. Although he competed in eight events, he was eliminated during the qualifying round. 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. He was used by Japanese authorities in Korea to organize Korean writers for a Greater East Asia Writer's Conference, the events of which he portrayed with bitterness and cynicism in his post-war novel
The Drunken Ship. He married Kiyo Kojima in 1937. He returned to Japan in 1944, and lived in
Shizuoka Prefecture. In 1947, leaving his wife in Shizuoka, he moved to
Shinjuku, Tokyo with his mistress. After
World War II, Tanaka re-joined the Japan Communist Party, but was so critical of its leadership that he was later expelled. He was greatly shocked by the
suicide of his mentor
Dazai Osamu. In his later years, he suffered from
alcoholism,
drug abuse and mental instability. He committed suicide at the grave of Dazai Osamu in 1949 by cutting his wrists after taking an overdose of sleeping pills. His grave is at the
Aoyama Cemetery in central Tokyo. His works include: • • • == See also ==