Fumiaki Tanaka (????, born 3 January 1985 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese rugby union footballer. He plays as a scrum-half for Japan on international level and for the Panasonic Wild Knights, Otago and the Highlanders at domestic level.
Tanaka was not seen as one of the top prospects in Japan whilst at University, but after joining the Panasonic Wild Knights in 2007 he played alongside former All Blacks fly half Tony Brown who was credited with helping him to develop immensely and Tanaka himself cites Brown as one of the most important influences on his career. After Tanaka's first season in the Top League in 2007/08, he was named in the team of the season alongside Brown and also was named as newcomer of the year.
After his first season in the Top League. Tanaka made his debut for Japan against the Arabian Gulf in May 2008 coming off the bench. He soon became a regular member of the Japan side and made the squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup as first choice scrum half and is currently considered one of Japan's best and most important players. At domestic level, after being named in the Top League team of the season in his first year, he backed that up by being named in it again in 2008/09 and 2010/11.
