He was previously on an international learning excursion, working for NJPW's Mexican partner Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) under the ring name Kawato-San (or Kawato San).

[2] Throughout 2016, Kawato spent most of the year working opening and undercard matches, and primarily fought against fellow Young Lion Teruaki Kanemitsu.

[4] David Finlay, Kawato, Manabu Nakanishi, and Ryusuke Taguchi defeated TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima), Liger, and Oka in the opening match of the NJPW 45th Anniversary show in Korakuen Hall.

[7][8][9] On June 20, Kawato was involved in his first higher card match when he teamed with Hiroshi Tanahashi, losing to Los Ingobernables de Japón ("The Ungovernables from Japan"; Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi).

In October, Kawato teamed with Kushida to take part in the 2017 Super Junior Tag Tournament where they were defeated in the first round by Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh[a]).

On November 5, 2017, Kawato, alongside Juice Robinson, Liger, Kushida and Tiger Mask defeated Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Zack Sabre Jr.) at Power Struggle.

[10] From October 12 to December 21, Kawato took part in the 2017 Young Lion Cup, where he finished second with a record of four wins (defeating Oka,[11] Shota Umino,[12] Ren Narita,[13] and Tetsuhiro Yagi[14]) and one loss, to tournament winner Katsuya Kitamura,[15] to end up in second place overall.

[13] Kawato competed on all eight days of the 2018 Fantastica Mania tour, where NJPW and Mexican-based Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) co-promoted a number of shows in Japan.

His final match of the tour, and for NJPW at the time, saw him team with Mexican wrestler Atlantis as they lost to Gedo and Bárbaro Cavernario.

[16] On January 9, 2018, CMLL announced on Twitter that Kawato would begin his excursion with them at the end of the month, and would actively compete in the promotion after taking part in New Japan's Fantastica Mania events.

[31] Kawato returned to the ring on November 9, teaming with El Felino and Rey Bucanero as they lost to Atlantis Jr., Ángel de Oro, and Niebla Roja.

[30] Starting in late October, Kawato San and Dulce Gardenia became involved in a storyline feud, with the two facing off in six-man tag team matches throughout November and December.

[40] At Wrestle Kingdom 15, he and Ryusuke Taguchi unsuccessfully challenged Suzuki-gun's El Desperado and Kanemaru for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

On the preshow of the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Wato would defeat El Desperado in a six man tag match and earn himself a title shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

[49] On the day of the tournament finals, Wato and Taguchi were defeated by United Empire's TJP and Francesco Akira in a non-title match.