in march 1989 hananoumi returned to the "komusubi" rank but had a disastrous tournament, losing his first nine bouts before withdrawing injured on day 10. in may he defaulted on day 5 after losing his first four matches due to a herniated disk and was never to appear on the "dohyo" again, retiring after missing the july 1989 tournament altogether. he remained in sumo for a short time as an elder under the name hanakago oyakata (formerly used by his old boss wajima), but left the sumo association in june 1990. he ran a chanko restaurant in akita and after it closed ran a hotel in nanporo, hokkaido.