Mina Tanaka

1. He worked in a gym before becoming a professional:
   Despite being a legendary goalscorer in Japan, the league wasn't entirely professional during her early years. To support herself, Mina worked as a personal trainer and receptionist from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at a Tipness gym in the Kanagawa area. Her former boss recalls that, despite the physical strain of working on her feet and then rushing off to train until 10:00 PM, Mina never showed an ounce of fatigue or complained. The gym's older clients still follow her and send her letters.

2. His curious hobby:
   When asked about his favorite pastimes outside of football, he always surprises: he loves watching mixed martial arts (MMA) and boxing matches. He finds it relaxing to watch the strategy of combat sports. Furthermore, early in his career, he confessed on social media to being a huge fan of the Japanese film and television series Umizaru (an action story about coast guard rescuers).

3. Multicultural roots and a key brother:
   Mina is the daughter of a Thai mother and a Japanese father. She was born in Thailand but moved to Japan as a baby. She started playing soccer at the age of five solely because she wanted to imitate her older brother, whom she watched at every training session. Her brother remains one of her biggest supporters in the stands when she plays in Japan.

The mess of names:
She is often confused in search engines with a very famous Japanese television presenter and actress who has almost the same name (Minami Tanaka).

The myth of her single status: Being so private about her personal life, she even joked in an interview that at that stage of her life she "didn't need a boyfriend" because she was obsessed with soccer. This sparked waves of theories and debates online about her sexual orientation in Japan, although she simply prefers to keep her private life under wraps.

🏆 Achievements and Honors

At the National Team level:

AFC Asian Cup Champion (2018).
Champion and MVP of the SheBelieves Cup (2025): She made history by being the first Japanese footballer chosen as Most Valuable Player of this tournament after scoring 4 goals and giving 3 assists in just three games.
Major participations: Double Olympic athlete (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games) and key player in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

At the Club level and Individual Awards:

5x Nadeshiko League Champion (with Tokyo Verdy Beleza).
4x Golden Boot / Top Scorer of the Japanese league (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019).
2x MVP / Best Player of the Season in Japan (2018, 2019).

⚽ History and Career in Clubs

Mina Tanaka is one of the most consistent and historic strikers in Japanese women's football. Her career in the sport includes the following stages:

Tokyo Verdy Beleza (2011–2019): She started in the youth ranks and quickly rose to the first team. This was the most dominant period of her career in Japan, where she helped the club win five consecutive league titles (2015–2019) and established herself as the league's top scorer for four consecutive seasons.

INAC Kobe Leonessa (2020–2024): Signed for the Kobe club to continue adding goals and experience in the WE League (the Japanese professional league).

Bayer Leverkusen (2021): She had a brief European experience when she went on loan for a few months to the German Women's Bundesliga.

Utah Royals (2024–Present): She made the leap to the most competitive league in the world, the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the United States. Her impact has been so significant that she was named Utah's Female Professional Athlete of the Year and extended her contract with the team.

🧠 Personality and Character

Like many athletes in Japanese sports culture, Mina's public image is one of extreme discipline, humility, and reserve. However, within the world of football, very clear traits stand out:
Quiet leadership and winning mentality: Described by her coaches in the United States as an intelligent player with an innate "winning mentality" that raises the level of the young female soccer players around her.
Tenacity: On the field she is extremely competitive and hardworking in high defensive pressure, she never gives up on any ball.
Grateful and mature: After receiving high-caliber international awards (such as the MVP in the USA), she usually prioritizes the collective effort in her interviews, downplaying herself and focusing on how Japanese women's soccer continues to gain respect internationally.

His sweetest and most childlike side:

Despite her maturity on the field, Mina Tanaka's official Instagram account reveals a very tender side. She loves cakes and celebrating her birthdays surrounded by balloons. Recently, she uploaded a video of herself encountering some girls trying to juggle a ball in a public park; Mina stopped incognito to give them advice and ended up celebrating with them on the grass when the girls broke their personal record.

🏃‍♀️ Physical Appearance and Playing Style

Height: 1.64 meters (5 feet, 5 inches).
Weight: 56 kg.
Soft, multicultural features: Being of Japanese and Thai descent, her facial features combine elements of both cultures. She has a round face, naturally well-defined eyebrows, and dark, expressive eyes.
His smile, his trademark: Off the field or when celebrating a goal, he's incredibly cheerful. He has a wide, infectious smile that contrasts sharply with the cold, focused gaze he projects during the game.
Her haircut is a two-block pixie cut, a look with an Asian urban aesthetic and a very androgynous feel. It consists of dividing the hair into two sections: the sides and nape are cut very short in her natural dark brown, while the top is left longer, thinned with a razor to give it texture and a tousled volume, and finished with a short, irregular fringe above the eyebrows. The most striking feature is the color contrast, as the entire top layer is bleached a golden blonde, leaving the dark roots visible, which adds a lot of depth. It's an ultra-modern, youthful style that's also incredibly comfortable for sports, because it doesn't get in her face when she runs and doesn't need hair ties or headbands to stay in place.
She has a rather androgynous appearance, often being mistaken for a boy; she is not bothered by the Japanese ideal of looking feminine and chooses to look more masculine.
Casual and comfy fashion: In her day-to-day life, Mina avoids eccentricities or flashy designer labels. She opts for a very clean streetwear style: oversized sweatshirts, basic cotton t-shirts, loose jeans, and sneakers (she's quite a fan of classic shoe styles). Comfort is her top priority.
On the field, he wears his black uniform from his current club, while with the Japanese national team he wears the blue uniform.

📋 Basic Information

Full name: Mina Tanaka (田中美南).
Date of birth: April 28, 1994.
Place of birth: Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand (of Thai mother and Japanese father, although he grew up and trained athletically in Japan).
Position: Forward / Attacking midfielder.
Usual jersey number: 11 (Japan National Team) and 17 (Utah Royals).