He did not manage to reach "makuuchi" in 2014 and had an even less successful year in 2015, losing "sekitori" status after the November 2015 tournament for the first time in five years. He won promotion back to "jūryō" after the March 2016 tournament. He said that his ambition for the remainder of his career was to earn another "kachi-koshi" or winning score in the top division, something which he only achieved once, in his "makuuchi" debut in 2005. However May 2016 turned out to be his final tournament at "sekitori" level.