Harumafuji escaped sudden death with a narrow victory over Toyonoshima to start his bid for yokozuna promotion in the winners' column on the first day of action at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.
Yokozuna Hakuho, meanwhile, made mincemeat of Russian Aran, while ozeki-promotion chasing wrestlers Kotoshogiku and Kakuryu also got off to winning starts at the autumn basho — the first official meet held in Tokyo since the New Year meet following a match fixing scandal in February.
Mongolian ozeki Harumafuji, who won the Nagoya basho in July with an outstanding 14-1 record, got hunkered down in a standstill with the komusubi in the day's penultimate bout at Ryogoku Kokugikan.