From 12 September 1939 to 14 October 1940 Kawabe was recalled to Japan, and held the powerful post of Inspector-General of Military Training.

Arriving in Burma he was convinced to support Renya Mutaguchi, commander of the 15th Army and an old comrade-in-arms, in his plans for a pre-emptive attack against British forces at Imphal.

This plan was strongly opposed by most of Kawabe's commanders as well as Masazumi Inada, Vice-Chief of Staff of the Southern Expeditionary Army based in Singapore.

However, in October 1943, Inada was removed from his position due to a diplomatic incident with Thailand and in December the plan was approved by General Hisaichi Terauchi and Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō on the understanding the operation would be a purely defensive one.

[2] Mutaguchi's plan was a tremendous disaster for the Japanese army, resulting in the highest casualties of any operation in the entire war, and the loss of Burma.

After the surrender of Japan, Kawabe was retained by the SCAP occupation authorities to assist with the demobilization of the Japanese military, replacing Kenji Doihara after the latter was arrested and tried for war crimes.