After graduating the school, he joined Júbilo Iwata and briefly loaned to Albirex Niigata.

[2][3] On June 13, 2007, Kikuchi was arrested in Hamamatsu city for the charge of a statutory rape on a 15-year-old high school student.

[6] After performing voluntary community service for some months, he moved to Germany and joined FC Carl Zeiss Jena.

After trialling with another German club, FC Schalke 04, he signed for Oita Trinita on July 27, 2009.

He made his full international debut for Japan on January 6, 2010, in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification against Yemen.