Hakuho shrugged off his defeat to Ichinojo on opening day to get in the winner's column with a convincing victory against Takarafuji at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament on Monday.
Ozeki hopeful Terunofuji also bounced back from a first-day loss to get on track after heaving out Egyptian firebrand Osunaarashi, who slipped to the same 1-1 mark.
Hakuho, aiming to become the only man to have won seven consecutive titles twice, has only lost five times on the first day since being promoted to sumo's highest rank in July 2007.