After entering the February 2012 New Japan tryouts and making his debut opposite Takaaki Watanabe on the November 15 NEVER event, SHO would make a name for himself with a spirited undercard rivalry with Yohei Komatsu. In January 2016, headed to Mexico, and that September, to America to gain worldwide experience and hone his skills, forming the Tempura Boyz tag team with Komatsu.

SHO returned to New Japan on October 9, 2017. With YOH, and under the tutelage of Rocky Romero, he formed Roppongi 3K. That same night, defeated Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi to become half of the 54th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. SHO and YOH would also win the annual junior heavyweight tag team tournament, in both elimination and league format, three years in a row. 

SHO also showed his potential as a singles competitor. A spirited run in the 2019 Best of the Super Junior saw fans respect SHO as a junior heavyweight powerhouse, a status he carried into a hard hitting rivalry with Shingo Takagi, but business was left undone with YOH in Roppongi 3K. On January 5 2020 at Wrestle Kingdom 14, they won the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for the fourth time from El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori. While the knock on SHO and YOH as a team had been that they were better at winning the titles than keeping them, Roppongi 3K would successfully defend against El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and their own mentors, the Mega Coaches of Rocky Romero and Ryusuke Taguchi in the coming weeks, taking strides to cement their dynasty.