Biography

October 22, 1952 · Kumamoto, Japan

Grand sweeping epic stories.

His stories are generally alternate reality tales based on historical events/figures.

Japanese novelist.

Tanaka is an avid fan of Chinese history and many of his stories are set in China.

Has a doctorate degree in Japanese Language and (Japanese) Literature from Gakushuin University in Tokyo.

His favourite stories are Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels and Jean Ray's "Melpertuis".

When people from the 20th century say things like "I'm reading LoGH" and "When I saw the anime in elementary school, I really got into it," I feel like I've been struck in the back and calmly think "Ah, I'm really old aren't I" (lol). Whenever I talk to fans who read the novels first and then saw the anime, and fans who got into the novels through the anime, I end up wondering if they understand each other (lol), but it makes me happy to hear talk of kindred fans sharing their feelings and getting along. Please watch it as you please, and other people might not understand it, but if you find a point where you say "for me, this is the best!" that makes me the happiest.

On the "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" anime adaptation: Looking at the anime as an outsider, I think it's because the staff's earnest zeal got through to the viewers. As far as the original (the novel series) is concerned, to be honest, even as the author I don't know... If I knew that, I think I'd be able to put out hits one after the other, wouldn't I, but it's probably for the best (lol). When the images on the screen so clearly presented things like the sense of scale that I struggled with when I was writing, I remember thinking "this was so hard when I was writing this part" (lol).

On "Legend of the Galactic Heroes": I had a vague desire to try writing something like the various "space operas" that I read when I was a kid. In 1978, when I received Phantasmagoria's (Phantasmagoria Co., Ltd. 1975-1979) rookie of the year award, some of the authors who got their start with Phantasmagoria were gathered and a long-fiction commission competition was planned. At that time, I said "I'd like to try writing space opera," and I got to fulfill my dream.

I didn't want to write something that only appealed to a specific group of people in a specific country. If my work can be enjoyed as something with universal appeal in English-speaking countries as well, that makes me incredibly happy.

When I read about history, I always find myself wondering why a certain person made a particular decision at a given time. I love to imagine alternate realities where things might have turned out differently.