He made his professional debut in March 2002, alongside future top division wrestlers such as Kisenosato and Katayama, and also his own stablemate Nionoumi [ja].

[3] He reached the third highest makushita division in July 2005, but weighing barely more than 100 kilograms (220 lb) he found it hard to make further progress.

He had begun wrestling using his own surname of Shimada, but adopted his present shikona in March 2008, formed from combination of his original stable name (Kitanoumi) and an old name for west Hyōgo Prefecture (Harima Province).

[5] It had taken him 85 tournaments from his professional debut to reach the top division, which is the ninth slowest in sumo history.

[6] He told reporters that having been in sumo since he was 15, he was disappointed that his contemporaries who had instead gone to high school and university before entering the professional ranks had overtaken him.

[11] In the September 2020 tournament Kitaharima could manage only five wins against ten losses, losing his last four bouts.

He was forced to sit out the March 2021 tournament after a coach at his stable tested positive for COVID-19, but his ranking was protected.

[16] On the occasion of this new promotion Kitaharima shared that his inspiration for remaining an active wrestler was his former stablemate Kitazakura, who, as the third-oldest repromoted to jūryō in modern sumo, continued his career even after his demotion to the makushita division.

[17] However, Kitaharima suffered an eighth defeat (make-koshi) in his match against Chiyoshōma on Day 11, making it uncertain whether he will remain in jūryō.

[23] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi