Date of birth: June 19, 1940

Party: Democratic Party of Japan

Electoral district: Upper House; Niigata (third term)

Tanaka, a veteran lawmaker and former chairman of the Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense committees, began his political career by entering the Lower House as a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in 1983.

During the LDP's reign, he was appointed a parliamentary vice foreign minister in 1989 and senior vice farm minister in 2001.

He is married to former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, making him the son-in-law of the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. He and his wife left the LDP and joined the Democratic Party of Japan in 2008.

Tanaka, an Ishikawa Prefecture native and Keio University graduate, is serving his third term in the Upper House. He served three terms in the Lower House as well.

He also runs a transportation firm behind the Echigo Kotsu bus service in Niigata Prefecture.