Born in
Itayanagi,
Kitatsugaru District, Katō was an amateur sumo champion at
Nihon University, winning the College Yokozuna title in his final year. He began his professional sumo career as a
makushita tsukedashi (a promising amateur allowed to start at a level significantly higher than entry level) in March 1999, wrestling under his own name. He reached
jūryō, the second-highest division, in January 2000, at which point he changed his
fighting name to Takamisakari. '' Three tournaments later, in July of the same year, he was promoted to the top
makuuchi division, becoming only the second wrestler (and first Japanese born) from his
Azumazeki stable to achieve this feat. In September he acted as
tsuyuharai ("dew-sweeper", an honorary attendant) in stablemate
Yokozuna Akebono's ring-entering ceremony, but he was injured on the third day of that tournament. Enforced absence from the next two tournaments saw him demoted all the way back to the unsalaried
makushita division, where he had begun his career. It took him until March 2002 to work his way back up to the
makuuchi division, and in September he reached
komusubi, his highest rank. He only held this rank for one tournament, however, dropping back to
maegashira in November. He has earned five
special prizes, and has two
gold stars for defeating
yokozuna, both earned in the July 2003 tournament where he was also awarded the Outstanding Performance prize. Although he again reached
komusubi in November 2003, he again failed to retain the rank and spent the rest of his career in the top division as a middle-level
maegashira. Takamisakari again appeared in a
yokozuna's ring-entered ceremony in September 2005, when he replaced
Asasekiryū, who was injured, as
sword-bearer. On the first day he accidentally scraped the sword against the ceiling. He came close to demotion from the top division after missing five bouts through injury in November 2007. However, in the next tournament he achieved a majority of wins against losses from the
maegashira 14 ranking. In May 2011 he could score only 7-8 at
maegashira 15 but actually rose one place in the rankings for the following tournament due to the large number of wrestlers retiring over a match-fixing scandal. However his run of 56 consecutive makuuchi tournaments ended when he could only score 3-12 in the July 2011 basho. Takamisakari was a hugely popular wrestler. He built himself up for each bout with a somewhat eccentric series of muscle flexes and slaps, and threw a copious amount of salt onto the
dohyō. In a culture where
impassivity is sometimes seen as a sign of strength, he made no attempt to hide his emotions, obviously elated after each win and inconsolably dejected after each loss. Even though he usually performed in the middle to lower ranks, the winner of his matches were always greatly rewarded with
kenshō-kin (prize money) provided by his sponsor, a food company. during the May 2007 tournament. ==Retirement==