In September 1974, his 11th day match with Futagodake was declared a draw ("hikiwake"). This is the last draw in the top division to date. Mienoumi won his first "makuuchi" tournament or "yūshō" in November 1975 and was promoted to "ōzeki" the following January. He lost a majority of bouts in the next two tournaments, resulting in an automatic demotion back to "sekiwake", but a good result of 10 wins to 5 losses in the next tournament was sufficient to restore him to "ōzeki".