After Saigo had returned to the mainland, Kawaguchi was discharged around 1865 and went back to Kagoshima City, and at first drifted from one relative's house to another.
西郷の本土帰還の後、慶応元年頃に赦免されて鹿児島城下に戻って、当初は親戚の家を転々としていた。