Kawaguchi was born in Fuji on August 15, 1975. After graduating from Shimizu Commercial High School, he joined J1 League club Yokohama Marinos (later "Yokohama F. Marinos") in 1994. In 1995, he became a regular goalkeeper for generational change instead Shigetatsu Matsunaga who plays for the Japan national team. The club won the J1 League champions in 1995 and he was selected "Rookie of the Year award". In 2000, the club also won the 2nd place in J1 League. In summer 2001, he moved to English First Division club Portsmouth. In 2003, he moved to Danish Superliga club Nordsjælland. However he could not play many matches in both clubs. In January 2005, he returned to Japan and joined Júbilo Iwata. He played as regular goalkeeper until 2011. However he lost regular position for injury from 2012. Toward the end of his career, he played for J2 League club FC Gifu (2014–2015) and J3 League club SC Sagamihara (2016–2018). He retied end of the 2018 season at the age of 43.