In 1923, the shop, including all the merchandise and furniture, were lost in the fire that followed the Great Kanto Earthquake. The damage was devastating. However, the shop was rebuilt and re-opened in 1927. Sadly, the second owner, Yoshizo Kaneda, passed away shortly thereafter in 1931. The economy was depressed, too, and people said that the odds were against the survival of the shop. It was Katsuji Kaneda, the heir of the family business, who made the decision at the tender age of 17 to become the third owner of the shop, changed its name from Masuyoshi Oil Shop to Kaneda Oil Shop and sailed out into the stormy ocean of hard times.