Tanaka was part of the Japan U-17 national team that finished in second place at the 2010 U-17 World Cup and of the U-20 team that finished in third place at the 2012 U-20 World Cup. In February 2013, she received her first senior team call-up. On March 8, she made her debut for Japan and scored her first goal in a 2–1 loss to Germany in the 2013 Algarve Cup. In 2018, she played at 2018 Asian Cup and Japan won the championship. She played 35 games and scored 14 goals for Japan.