Following this victory he was promoted to sumo's third highest rank of "sekiwake". He was to hold this rank a further seven times, but he was ultimately unable to score ten wins or more in consecutive tournaments and so was never able to reach the rank of "ōzeki". Nevertheless, he paved the way for other Hawaii wrestlers such as Konishiki and Akebono. His final appearance in the "san'yaku" ranks was at "komusubi" in September 1982 at age 38, making him the second oldest postwar "san'yaku" wrestler after former "ōzeki" Nayoroiwa.