Based on postwar research, it was once believed that he had returned to secular life and become a merchant, but currently it is generally believed that he had been a Buddhist monk throughout his life because of the discovery of "Yamashinake raiki" (diary of Hisamori OSAWA, zassho (a person in charge of miscellaneous tasks) of the Yamashina family), which was written in the year when Juko was 64 years old, in which he was referred to as 'Jukobo' (monk Juko).
戦後の研究では還俗して商人になったとされてきたが、珠光64歳の時期に当たる『山科家礼記』に「珠光坊」という記述が発見されたことから、現在では一生僧侶であったと改められている。