 In March 2019 he was suffering from cellulitis and a fever but did not pull out of the tournament, not wanting to disappoint the fans in his native Osaka Prefecture, and won just two bouts.He was demoted to the "jūryō" division for the May 2019 tournament, bringing to an end his streak of 585 consecutive top division matches since November 2012.In June 2018 it was revealed that he is the owner of the Kasugayama elder stock, indicating that he intends to stay in sumo after his retirement.