For her role in the drama film Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014), Kikuchi received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead.

Kikuchi starred in Rian Johnson's second film, The Brothers Bloom (2009), which was her first full English-language feature.

In 2010, Kikuchi was cast as Naoko in Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel Norwegian Wood.

In March 2011, she was added to the cast of 47 Ronin, the first English-language adaptation of the Japanese Chushingura legend of samurai loyalty and revenge.

Kikuchi plays the role of Emi Maruyama, the supervisor of the lead character Jake Adelstein, in the 2022 HBO Max series Tokyo Vice.

[6] In 2024, she featured on the official poster of 37th Tokyo International Film Festival, created by fashion designer Koshino Junko.