Upon falling ill in 585 (February of the 14th year of Emperor Bidatsu's reign), Umako was told by a fortune-teller that it was the curse of a Buddhist statue destroyed while his father Iname was in office.
敏達天皇14年2月（585年）、馬子は病になり、卜者に占わせたところ「父の稲目のときに仏像が破棄された祟りである」と言われた。