He is supposed to have died not of a plague which had prevailed and killed many court nobles at that time, but of aggravation of mizu nomi yami (water-drinking illness) (diabetes) resulting from excessive ingestion of sake (alcohol), which he coincidentally experienced at the time.
死因については、当時流行して多数の貴族の命を奪った疫病ではなく、酒の飲みすぎなどからきた飲水病（糖尿病）の悪化が偶々この時期に重なったものと見られている。