He made his debut in November 1960, joining the then recently retired
yokozuna Tochinishiki's
Kasugano stable. He reached
jūryō in May 1965 and the top
makuuchi division in March 1967. He was relatively small, standing only 177 cm tall and weighing around 110 kg. In May 1968 he was runner-up to
Tamanoshima with a 10–5 record, earning promotion to
komusubi. He also won the first of his six
Ginō-shō or Technique Awards. He was runner-up once again in September of that year. He reached his highest rank of
sekiwake in March 1970 but fell short with a 7–8 record. He had the unusual experience in January 1971 of defeating a
yokozuna on the opening day, and then losing 13 of his remaining 14 bouts, with his only other win being a walkover. In January 1972, ranked at
maegashira 5, he took his only top division
yūshō or tournament championship. He needed only an 11–4 record to do so (13 or 14 wins are normally needed). The sole
yokozuna at the time,
Kitanofuji, withdrew after winning only seven matches, and the only
ōzeki Tochiazuma faced was
Kiyokuni on the final day. He won the match, avoiding the need for a playoff with
Wajima,
Kotozakura,
Hasegawa,
Fukunohana,
Yoshioyama and
Wakafutase who all finished runners up on 10–5. Had
Kiyokuni won, he would have also been involved in an eight-way playoff. After his tournament victory he was promoted back to
komusubi but pulled out of the next tournament through injury and spent the rest of his career in the
maegashira ranks. He was runner-up for a third time in May 1973, but was not really in contention for the championship during the tournament, finishing four wins behind the undefeated Wajima. ==Retirement from sumo==