Date of birth: March 6, 1938

Party: DPJ

Electoral district: Lower House; Kanagawa No. 5 (sixth term)

Tanaka chairs a DPJ faction of former members of the trade union-backed Democratic Socialist Party, a minor force that disbanded in 1994.

The group backed Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's re-election campaign in the DPJ's presidential race last month, and Tanaka's appointment might be their reward since Noda is desperately trying to cement party unity and prevent further defections before the next general election.

The faction has about 40 members in the DPJ.

His stance on the key policies he will oversee as justice minister are largely unknown at this stage, including immigration and executions of death-row inmates.

Tanaka graduated from the engineering department of Tokai University in 1960 and was elected to the prefectural assembly of Kanagawa Prefecture in 1971. He won his first Lower House seat in 1983. Currently, he serves as vice president of the DPJ.