{{Short description|Japanese aikidoka}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox martial artist |birth_date=21 March 1912 |birth_place=Osaka, Japan |death_date=December 1988 |nationality=Japanese |martial_art=Aikido |teacher=Morihei Ueshiba |rank=9th dan |students=Yukio Kawahara, Higuchi Takanari, Seiji Tomita, Ishu Ishiyama}}

{{Nihongo|'''Bansen Tanaka'''|田中 万川|Tanaka Bansen|21 March 1912, Osaka – December 1988}} was a Japanese aikido teacher and a pre-war and post-war disciple<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Principal Disciples of Morihei Ueshiba: An Update to a Classic – Aikido Journal|date=23 December 2018 |url=https://aikidojournal.com/2018/12/23/the-principal-disciples-of-morihei-ueshiba-an-update-to-a-classic/|access-date=2021-04-06|language=en-US}}</ref> of aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba.<ref>[http://www.aikidojournal.com/encyclopedia.php?entryID=676 Encyclopedia of Aikido [TANAKA, BANSEN&#93;<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507015510/http://www.aikidojournal.com/encyclopedia.php?entryID=676 |date=May 7, 2006 }}</ref>

== Biography == Tanaka was a judo practitioner when he met Morihei Ueshiba in 1936. Eager to learn about aikido, he set up a dojo in Osaka for Noriaki (Yoichiro) Inoue, early student and nephew of Ueshiba. He followed Inoue and Ueshiba's teachings until 1939 when he was drafted to go to war. His proficiency in aikido secured him a position as a bodyguard in the army. He returned to Osaka after the war and resumed the practice of aikido. He also went to Iwama (during the construction of his dojo in Osaka) and trained alongside other renowned students of Ueshiba. He was one of the few students who trained with Ueshiba before and after the war.{{fact|date=March 2026}}

Ueshiba contacted Tanaka in 1951 and suggested to him that he build his own dojo in Osaka, what would become the future Osaka Aikikai Dojo. After the dojo's inauguration (early 1952), Ueshiba spent several months there teaching aikido <ref>[http://www.aikidojournal.com/article.php?articleID=366 Interview with Bansen Tanaka<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216213529/http://www.aikidojournal.com/article.php?articleID=366|date=February 16, 2007}}</ref> and he frequently returned to visit and teach.{{fact|date=March 2026}}

Tanaka remained the chief instructor at the Osaka Aikikai until his death. He was 9th dan Aikikai. Yukio Kawahara,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Aikidosphere - Kawahara Sensei's profile|url=https://aikidosphere.com/kawahara-sensei-s-profile|access-date=2021-04-06|website=aikidosphere.com}}</ref> technical director of the Canadian Aikido Federation, Higuchi Takanari, chief instructor of the Kyoto Renmei Dojo, Seiji Tomita, founder of the Ban Sen Juku school in Belgium and Ishu Ishiyama,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Victoria Aikikai ~ Our History|url=http://www3.telus.net/victoriaaikidocentre/pages/history.htm|access-date=2021-04-06|website=www3.telus.net}}</ref> chief instructor of the Vancouver West Aikikai Dojo figure among his students.{{fact|date=March 2026}}

Ban Sen Juku, headquartered in Belgium and having dojos in France, Reunion Island, Spain, Tahiti, and the United Kingdom, is an international school for aikido named after Bansen Tanaka.{{fact|date=March 2026}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Students of Morihei Ueshiba}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Bansen}} Category:1912 births Category:1988 deaths Category:Japanese aikidoka