At noon on September 1, 1923, the ground began to shake violently. The Great Kanto Earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 occurred. In Kanagawa Prefecture alone, 66,366 houses were completely destroyed, and another 64,753 houses were totally burned in the fires that followed. Damage of this extent had never been experienced before.

Kametaro and his family were in their house in the less affected area of Honmoku when the earthquake occurred, and the damage was considerably less. But the damage sustained by the newly organized Uyeno Kaisoten was serious. Fortunately, the employees were all safe, but the office and the warehouse in Kaigandori as well as the Yoshida Machi inn were destroyed. The office building of Rising Sun was also demolished and Hiranuma Oil Terminal was burned to the ground.

Consequently, Rising Sun moved its headquarters to Kobe temporarily. Their office was shifted to Marunouchi and their business in the Tokyo area was resumed mainly with flammable oil and paraffin.

On the other hand, similarly damaged Uyeno Kaisoten rented a space in the office of Omuragumi to resume their business. Despite the dire circumstances, Kametaro joined the Yokohama Reconstruction Association and worked hard for the reconstruction of Yokohama.

Rising Sun also set out to build oil storage terminals. In 1924, they built Tsurumi Oil Terminal to replace Hiranuma, and Yanagishima Oil Terminal to replace Fukagawa. Uyeno Kaisoten was transporting more than 25 shipments per month.

In 1926, the company was renamed "Uyeno Unyu Shokai," and new offices were opened in Yamashita-cho, in a building belonging to Kametaro's uncle, Kichiji Watano.

The Great Depression of 1929 began in the United States and spread to Japan and other countries. Many banks in Japan collapsed financially. Uyeno Unyu Shokai suffered and was forced to sell their barges in order to survive.

In 1931, the Manchurian Incident occurred. The oil market was revived by war-time events and prices rose greatly. Rising Sun expanded its sale of oil and Uyeno's business volume grew proportionately. Having gained Rising Sun's confidence, Uyeno was given charge of all cargo operations and transportation, leading Uyeno's transport volume to become No.1 in the country. This, however, did not last long. In 1932, Japan entered pre-war conditions and the Strategic Industries Control Act was enacted. Petroleum was among one of the many commodities affected by the new law.