出羽海部屋
Towanoyama made his professional debut in November 1993, joining Dewanoumi stable straight from high school. At the time Dewanoumi stable was extremely strong and he had many powerful training partners. He served as a personal attendant to such top division men as Kushimaumi, Oginohana and Oginishiki. In March 1999 he won the "makushita" division championship with a perfect 7-0 record and earned promotion to the second highest "jūryō" division, becoming an elite "sekitori" wrestler. He suffered an injury to his right ankle which required surgery and affected his performances, resulting in demotion back to" makushita" after only four tournaments. However, in May 2001 he won his second "makushita" championship and returned to the second division. A strong 11-4 record in January 2002 earned him promotion to the top "makuuchi" division, alongside Shimotori.