In May 2012, in his first tournament for his new stable, he won his first Emperor's Cup by beating Tochiōzan in a playoff after both finished with 12-3 records. In this tournament, Kyokutenhō had been in professional sumo just over twenty years, and at 37 years and 8 months was the oldest wrestler ever to take a top division championship in modern sumo history. He was also the first "maegashira" ranked wrestler to win a tournament since Kotomitsuki in 2001. Also, as Kyokutenhō had acquired Japanese citizenship, he was technically the first Japanese to win the championship since Tochiazuma in January 2006, although he will still be regarded as a 'foreign' champion in the Sumo Association's record book. His "yūshō" was the 50th won by a Mongolian born wrestler.