Isegahama stable
He was recruited by former "ozeki" Kiyokuni in 1978, who had taken over Isegahama stable the previous year. He made his first appearance on the "dohyo" in March 1978, and he rose through the lower ranks fairly quickly. He first reached the "sekitori" ranks in September 1980, having won the "makushita" division championship with a perfect 7-0 record in the previous tournament. However he lasted only one tournament in "juryo" before being demoted, and after missing the first two tournaments of 1981 he fell to the bottom of the "makushita" division. He came back strongly to earn promotion back to the "juryo" division in March 1982, and he took his first "yusho" or tournament championship in that division in July 1982 with an 11-4 record. He reached the top division for the first time in January 1983 at the age of just 20. To make the occasion he changed the second part of his "shikona" or fighting name from his own given name of Wataru to Taiji.