He came to Japan in February 2002 with his brother, joining the stable of former "Yokozuna" Taihō (since transferred to Taihō's son-in-law, the former Takatōriki, and renamed Ōtake stable). His first appearance was in May 2002, and he won his first 19 bouts. He was promoted to "jūryō" in January 2004, then "makuuchi" for the September 2004 tournament. His result was 10–5 in this tournament, earning him the Fighting Spirit prize. He also achieved 10 wins in the November 2004 tournament, and by May 2005 reached "maegashira" 1, but suffered a losing tournament and so failed to reach "sanyaku". In the next tournament, as a result of a leg injury, he only achieved 3 wins, with 8 losses and 4 absences. He won 8 bouts in the September tournament, then 10 in November (the same as his brother Hakurozan). In January 2006, ranked "maegashira" 2, he won 9 bouts and achieved promotion to east "komusubi", the first Russian to reach this rank. In March of the same year he won only 4 bouts.