Takayasu maintained his outright lead Monday at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament, improving to 9-0 by outmuscling fellow rank-and-file grappler Aoiyama.
Ozeki Mitakeumi, sekiwake Wakatakakage and No. 6 maegashira Kotonowaka remained one win off the pace, securing winning records at 8-1 on Day 9 of the 15-day tournament.
With the sport's sole grand champion, Terunofuji, pulling out Friday due to multiple leg injuries, the title race appears wide open at Edion Arena Osaka.
Gunning for his first Emperor's Cup, No. 7 Takayasu came into his bout against Bulgarian-born No. 10 Aoiyama trailing 10-12 in their previous top-division meetings.
The former ozeki was able to outlast Aoiyama (3-6) this time around, however, delivering a strong opening hit and eventually shoving him out after a pushing and thrusting battle.
Newly promoted ozeki Mitakeumi, winner of the January championship, continued his career dominance of No. 2 Tamawashi, improving to 27-3 head-to-head via force out.
The ozeki weathered an initial barrage from Tamawashi (4-5) before driving his shoulder into the maegashira's body and barging him out across the ring.
New sekiwake Wakatakakage showed patience and strength as he won a marathon bout against the biggest wrestler in the division, 206-kilogram Mongolian-born No. 2 Ichinojo.
Giving up more than 70 kg to his towering opponent, Wakatakakage was knocked backward before the pair settled into a long stalemate. With Ichinojo applying an arm lock, Wakatakakage stayed low and bided his time until wrenching the maegashira off balance and forcing him over the straw.
"I didn't want him to raise my center of gravity. I just wanted to wait for the right time," Wakatakakage said. "As I'm small, I just want to stay low and attack from a low angle."
Burgeoning talent Kotonowaka stayed on the front foot against No. 9 Tobizaru (4-5), shoving the lower-ranked maegashira over the edge as he tried to evade a pushout.
"My opponent was really fast, so I wanted to stay in front of him," said Kotonowaka, who is set to face a tougher slate of opponents in the second week of the tournament.
"Everything will stay the same," he said. "I will just focus on doing my sumo."
Demotion-threatened "kadoban" ozeki Takakeisho, who needs at least eight wins to keep his rank, saw his five-match win streak snapped by No. 4 Endo.
Unable to drive his opponent out backward, Takakeisho (6-3) attempted a half-hearted arm-lock throw that opened the door for Endo (6-3) to crush him out.
Shodai, who is also competing as a kadoban ozeki, improved his chances of remaining at sumo's second-highest rank by forcing out new komusubi Hoshoryu (4-5), registering his first win against the young star in five attempts.
The Mongolian komusubi had the initial momentum and drove Shodai (4-5) backward, but the ozeki showed good footwork to stay inside and maneuver his way into a winning position.
The other new sekiwake, Abi, dropped off the pace at 6-3 with a loss against No. 5 Takarafuji (3-6).
Abi struggled to deploy his favored thrusting attack against Takarafuji, who held his ground and leveraged an inside position to push out his opponent.
Komusubi Takanosho (1-8) will be demoted back to the rank and file after taking an eighth defeat that ensures a losing record for the meet. The former sekiwake continued to look out of sorts, offering little resistance as he was pushed out by No. 1 Daieisho (5-4).
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