Isegahama stable
Upon his graduation, the former "yokozuna" Asahifuji, who had previously attended the same high school and university as Sugiyama, invited him to join Isegahama stable of which Asahifuji was head coach. Sugiyama's professional sumo career began in January 2009. He took the "shikona" of Takarafuji from the beginning, following the practice at Isegahama of wrestlers taking a ring name at the beginning rather than waiting for a promotion opportunity as most stables do. He advanced quickly through the lower ranks. He narrowly lost the "jonokuchi" championship in his debut, losing in a playoff. He then posted an impressive 6-1 in his "jonidan" division debut in the next tournament. In the following July 2009 tournament, he won the "sandanme" division championship with a perfect record and a playoff win. His progress slowed only slightly on entering the tougher "makushita" division. Through to July 2010 he posted only one losing tournament, and was promoted to the "jūryō" second division in September 2010. His promotion from "makushita" 2 to "jūryō" 12 was higher than normal due to seven other wrestlers being suspended for gambling on baseball. Regardless of being put at a higher rank than his record had yet warranted, he excelled, posting four consecutive winning records and advancing to the top-tier "makuuchi" division in July 2011 at "maegashira" 10.