He made his professional debut in May 1967 at the age of just 14, joining
Nishonoseki stable. At first he fought under his own surname of Tarusawa, before adopting the
shikona of Kirinji in January 1974 upon promotion to the second highest
jūryō division. The
shikona had previously been used by one of his stablemates,
ozeki Daikirin. Kirinji reached the top
makuuchi division in September 1974 and remained there for 84 tournaments, a record at the time second only to
Takamiyama's 97. The run was not consecutive however, as he dropped to
jūryō briefly in November 1979 after sitting out the previous tournament through injury. He fought in 1221 top division bouts in total, the eleventh highest in history. He spent ten tournaments at
komusubi rank, the first in March 1975 and the last thirteen years later in January 1988, making him one of the oldest postwar
sanyaku wrestlers. He reached his highest rank of
sekiwake for the first time in July 1975 and held it on seven occasions in total. He never won a top division tournament but was a runner-up on two occasions, to
Kitanoumi in September 1978 and to
Chiyonofuji in March 1982. He won eleven
sanshō, or special prizes, placing him joint tenth on the all-time list, and earned six
kinboshi or gold stars for defeating
yokozuna. His last
kinboshi against
Onokuni in May 1988 came just two tournaments before his retirement. His spirited match with
Fujizakura in May 1975 was particularly memorable and was enjoyed by
Emperor Shōwa, a noted sumo fan. After fierce thrusting attacks from both sides, Kirinji eventually won the bout with an
uwatenage, or outer arm throw. He was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize at the end of that tournament. The bout was later released on DVD as one of the "Best Matches in the 20th Century." ==Retirement from sumo==