After finishing as runner-up in consecutive tournaments in May and July 1972 he reached sumo's second highest rank of "ōzeki" in November 1972. He was promoted at the same time as his friend and rival Wajima, who quickly went on to be promoted to "yokozuna". Takanohana's progress was slower, but he did win two top division tournament (or "honbasho") championships in March and September 1975, each time delighting the crowds by defeating the giant "yokozuna" Kitanoumi in a playoff. He and Wakanohana were the first brothers ever to each win a top division tournament title. He was also runner-up in the January and March 1977 tournaments. However he was ultimately unable to defeat Kitanoumi or Wajima on a regular basis, and was hampered by his inability to put on weight, and so never made the "yokozuna" rank. Nevertheless, he was an " ōzeki" for fifty tournaments, corresponding to over eight years in the rank. This was a record until July 2007 when it was broken by Chiyotaikai. He was a bigger crowd attraction than some "yokozuna".