Yokozuna Hakuho crossed the first hurdle without incident in his bid to become only the third wrestler in sumo's history to win 30 Emperor's Cup titles on the first day of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.
Kakuryu, fighting in his second meet at sumo's top rank, saw off Ikioi while Harumafuji, the other yokozuna, steamrolled Bulgarian-born Aoiyama in the penultimate bout.
In front of a sellout crowd at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Hakuho gave Aminishiki a cheeky pop to the chest with his forearm after the latter hesitated to come out of the crouch during one false start.