Akihiro was an active wrestler in professional sumo from 1981 until 1996, reaching a highest rank of "maegashira" 1. After his retirement he re-established the Kasugayama stable in 1997 and trained his own wrestlers. He left the Japan Sumo Association in 2012 after an expenses scandal, and was involved with a legal dispute in 2013 with his successor as head of Kasugayama stable which was not resolved until shortly before his death in 2017. 