Was born in 1949 in Kumamoto, Japan. Tanabe has been living and working for over 20 years in Sitges, a small town just outside Barcelona. He graduated from Waseda University with a degree in Political Science in 1972, and in 1974 he graduated with a Masters in Human Anatomy from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts . With a career already established, he was invited to participate in the 2007 and 2009 editions of the Florence Biennale.  He is a well known and respected international artist whose work has been exhibited in Japan, Spain, Italy and Belgium, among others.