He began his professional sumo career in March 1959, using the "shikona", or ring name, surname . In 1962 his coach, Tamanoumi Daitaro, set up his own Kataonami stable and Tamanoshima joined it. He reached the top "makuuchi" division in March 1964. In May 1964, he changed the spelling of his "shikona" surname to . In 1965 a change in the rules meant that wrestlers from the same group of stables could meet each other in tournament competition, and Tamanoshima defeated Taihō in their first official match. He was promoted to sumo's second highest rank of "ōzeki" in November 1966 at the age of 22. At first, he was unable to reach a score in double figures at "ōzeki" rank, but his results began to improve significantly from November 1967. In May 1968, after three runner-up performances in a row, he finally captured his first "yūshō," or tournament title, with a 13–2 record. The Yokozuna Deliberation Committee decided against promotion to "yokozuna" after this result due to the absence of both Taihō and Kashiwado from the tournament and his two losses to low-rankers in the first week. His second title came in September 1969. In November 1969 he posted a 10–5 record, and in January 1970 he took part in a playoff for the title with fellow "ōzeki" Kitanofuji. Tamanoshima lost the match, but after the tournament both Kitanofuji and Tamanoshima were promoted to the "yokozuna" rank. With Kashiwado already retired, and Taihō soon to follow, the two ushered in a new Kita-Tama era.