in july 1983 he took the "makushita" division championship with a perfect 7–0 record and was promoted to the "juryo" division, becoming a fully fledged "sekitori" for the first time. he reached the top "makuuchi" division in march 1985 and just one tournament later won his first "sansho" or special prize, for technique. in november 1985 he had his first victory over a "yokozuna", earning a "kinboshi" for defeating tournament winner chiyonofuji. in march 1987 he beat chiyonofuji again, scored ten wins at "maegashira" 1 and won his second technique award, and with it promotion to what was to be his highest rank of "komusubi". in september 1987 he achieved the feat of winning a majority of wins against losses ("kachi-koshi") despite missing four days and having to return for the last seven – the first time this had been done in the top division for 22 years. on the seventh day of the may 1988 tournament he was defeated by chiyonofuji, the first bout in chiyonofuji's post-war record winning streak of 53 consecutive matches.