He was from the same area of Japan as Wakanohana Kanji II and the two entered professional sumo together in July 1968, joining Futagoyama stable.

Nicknamed "Popeye" (ポパイ) because of his brawny physique,[1] he was one of the few wrestlers in his day to use weight training, which is now commonplace in sumo.

He studied Chiyonofuji's fighting style through watching videotapes of his bouts over and over,[3] and was often able to keep his rival from getting his favoured left hand grip on his mawashi.

In October 2011 the Sumo Association launched an investigation into allegations made by the news magazine Shūkan Shinchō that Naruto had beaten a former junior member of his stable with a block of wood and had injected Takanoyama with insulin so that the barely 100 kg wrestler would increase his appetite and put on weight.

Takanosato's most common winning kimarite or technique was overwhelmingly yorikiri or force out, which accounted for about 45 percent of his victories at sekitori level.

He also regularly won by uwatenage (overarm throw) and tsuridashi (lift out), the latter a technique seldom seen today due to the increasing weight of wrestlers.

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