He had travelled to Tokyo on a train to attend school, but was met at the station by a sumo wrestler who was expecting a new recruit, who had in fact had second thoughts and not made the trip.

After suffering appendicitis he had to undergo emergency surgery and changed his ring surname to Yoshibayama in May 1939 in honour of the doctor (Shosaku Yoshiba) who had saved his life.

[2] He got to the verge of promotion to the jūryō division in 1942 but was then drafted into the Japanese army and took part in World War II.

It is generally believed among sumo scholars that if he had not been conscripted and lost several years of his career, he could have become an even stronger and longer lasting wrestler than he was.

[3] In spite of his war injury, Yoshibayama returned to sumo in 1947 and was promoted to the top makuuchi division in November of that year.

His old rival Kagamisato, who had been promoted to ōzeki alongside him in May 1951, also decided to retire on the final day, the first time that two yokozuna had quit in the same tournament.

It also did not help that his favourite technique was the controversial ketaguri, or leg kick,[4] which was considered to be unacceptable at his top yokozuna rank.

At the Meiji Jingu shrine on June 1, 2007, Hakuhō performed the ring entering ceremony wearing Yoshibayama's keshō-mawashi and used a sword (tachi) of another yokozuna, Ōtori.

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