in may 1997 kenkō managed an 8-7 record at "maegashira" 11, but that was to be the last tournament in which he competed. he was hospitalised from july 1997, suffering from pancytopenia caused by an extremely rare form of leukemia (only four previous cases had ever been reported in japan). his name remained on the ranking sheets, but unable to compete he had dropped to "makushita" 55 by march 1998. he died on 10 march, from a pulmonary embolism.