 He made his professional debut in March 1976, fighting under surname of Ogata, and reached the top division in March 1978.In his top division debut he defeated ozeki Takanohana and scored 11 wins against 4 losses, winning the Fighting Spirit prize for the only time.He made his makuuchi debut in the same tournament as Kotowaka and as both were unusually tall, they were nicknamed "Jumbo Jet" and "Concorde".