In January 1896, he and Ōzutsu became the representative of the wrestlers calling for a boycott of the New Year tournament to protest the actions of Takasago Uragorō during the Nakamurarō jiken (中村楼事件), the 'Nakamurarō incident', during which all the wrestlers who were not members of the Takasago clan voiced their displeasure at the illegal actions of the master of the eponymous stable, who regularly went beyond the scope of his duties in order to gain influence within the Sumo Association.

After the incident, Ōtohira continued to achieve mixed results allowing him to maintain his rank without earning promotion to yokozuna.

[3] After his retirement, Ōtohira quickly gained influence, assisting Ikazuchi (former yokozuna Umegatani I) in his duties as executive of the association and closely training Ōzutsu and Araiwa.

In March 1906, along with Ikazuchi, he was appointed by the association to sit on the construction committee to build the first Ryōgoku Kokugikan, since tournaments, at the time held in the Ekōin temple, were becoming less and less practical.

Home of Martial Arts) by the founding committee chairman Itagaki Taisuke, the building took the name of Kokugikan (lit.