He reached his highest rank of komusubi in 1996 and held it for three tournaments, but he lacked the weight to regularly beat the top men, and never managed to progress further.

This enabled him to take over the running of Tatsunami stable when Annen reached the mandatory retirement age of sixty five in February 1999.

Asahiyutaka had in any case lost his top division status at the previous tournament in January, recording only four wins at maegashira 13, and had announced his retirement from active competition.

Asahiyutaka's marriage allowed him to inherit the Tatsunami elder name and stable, but it eventually broke down with the couple being divorced in August 2001.

He recruited the Mongolian wrestler Mōkonami who reached the top division in 2009, but Mokonami was forced to retire in 2011 after being found guilty of match-fixing.