Meet the New Rotary International President

Sakuji Tanaka

Yashio, Saitama, Japan 
President, Rotary International, 2012-13 
Trustee, The Rotary Foundation, 2006-10 
Director, Rotary International, 2003-05 
District Governor, 1994-95 

Sakuji Tanaka is the former chair of the Daika Company
and former president of the National Household Papers
Distribution Association of Japan. He also has been
vice president of the Yashio City Chamber of Commerce.

A member of the Rotary Club of Yashio since its charter in
1975, Tanaka has served RI as a director, Rotary
Foundation trustee, chair of the 2009 Birmingham
Convention Committee, member of the Polio Eradication
Advocacy Task Force and Future Vision Committee, and
regional Rotary Foundation coordinator, district governor,
and training leader. Working with his district, he helped to
construct a school building in Bangladesh.

Tanaka has received the RI Service Above Self Award
and the Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and
Distinguished Service Award. He and his wife, Kyoko, are
Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors of the Permanent Fund,
Major Donors, and members of the Arch C. Klumph
Society. In addition, Tanaka has established an endowed
Rotary Peace Fellowship.

He and Kyoko have been married since 1963 and have
three children and six grandchildren.