On his school excursion to Ōita in the spring of 1926, he met future yokozuna Futabayama Sadaji, who had not yet joined Tatsunami stable, and was participating in the track meet.

He made his professional debut in January 1929 using the shikona or ring name Yoshigiyama (喜木山), before changing it to Sadamisaki Eigorō (佐田岬 英五郎) in May 1930.

In January 1935 he changed its surname to Maedayama in honour of the surgeon who saved his career after he was forced to sit out the whole of 1934 due to injury.

Always a temperamental and controversial figure, he was forced to retire by the Japan Sumo Association in October 1949 after dropping out of a tournament claiming illness, only to be subsequently photographed at a baseball game with Lefty O'Doul.

He became calmer late in his life and died on August 17, 1971, of cirrhosis of the liver,[2] too early to see Takamiyama become the first foreigner to win a championship in 1972.