Rather than retire, Kirishima chose to carry on fighting in the "maegashira" ranks. Rather unusually for a former "ōzeki", he did not own "toshiyori" (elder) stock in the Sumo Association and so would have had to borrow a share from an active wrestler or use his own fighting name for a three year grace period if he had retired at that point. The cost of stock had risen sharply and his main sponsor, a real estate company, was going through financial difficulties. In May 1994 he fought fellow ex-"ōzeki" Konishiki, the first time in 35 years that two former "ōzeki" had met in the "maegashira" ranks (Ōuchiyama vs Mitsuneyama in 1959 was the previous occasion). The two rivals became friends off the "dohyo," and finished with a head-to-head split evenly at 19 wins each in 38 encounters.