 In 2008 he produced three consecutive "kachi-koshi" or winning scores, which returned him to the upper "maegashira" ranks for July, but he could win only three bouts there.In September 2008 an 11-4 record at "maegashira" 10 sent him up to "maegashira" 1, but he had six losing scores in the next six tournaments, and after the September 2009 "basho" he was demoted to "jūryō" for the first time in nearly five years.He missed four days of the November 2009 tournament, producing only a 7-5-3 record, and a 4-11 score in January 2010 sent him towards the bottom of the "jūryō" division.