In 1940, Kawaguchi was appointed commander of the IJA 35th Infantry Brigade.[2] This was under the direct command of the Southern Army and was formed from units from the IJA 18th Division.[3] Kawaguchi's reinforced brigade made a series of landings in British Borneo in December 1941 and January 1942: at Miri, Kuching, Brunei, Jesselton, Beaufort, Labuan Island and Sandakan.[3] During the later stages of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, it landed at Cebu in March 1942 and Mindanao the following month. As commander of Army forces on Cebu after the invasion of the Philippines in 1942, Kawaguchi objected strenuously to the "revenge killings" of senior Philippine government officials and supreme court justices by Japanese authorities, most notably Japanese Army ColonelMasanobu Tsuji. He argued that, "shooting defeated opponents in cold blood was a violation of the true Bushido." His protests earned him the enmity of Tsuji, who used every opportunity to get Kawaguchi reassigned to combat zones from which he was not likely to return.[4]
Kawaguchi and his 35th Infantry Brigade, along with other attached units, were landed as reinforcements on Guadalcanal in August and September 1942 in response to the Alliedlandings on the island. In the resulting Battle of Edson's Ridge on 13 September 1942, Kawaguchi's forces were defeated with heavy losses and forced to retreat from the battlefield. Kawaguchi was subsequently relieved of command during the Japanese preparations for another attack in October 1942 and evacuated from the island and back to Japan.[5]
Kawaguchi was relegated to the reserve list in 1943. After recovering from a long illness, he was placed in command of the defenses of Tsushima Island in March 1945.
After the surrender of Japan, Kawaguchi was transferred to the Philippines to face the military tribunal of the Philippine Army for war crimes committed in Lanao province. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years imprisonment on November 14, 1949. On July 4, 1953, President Elpidio Quirino pardoned all the remaining Japanese war criminals under Philippine jurisdiction.[6]
Harries, Meirion; Susie Harries (1994). Soldiers of the Sun : The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army. New York: Random House. ISBN0-679-75303-6.
Hayashi, Saburo (1959). Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Marine Corps. Association. ASIN B000ID3YRK.
Smith, Michael T. (2000). Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal. New York: Pocket. ISBN0-7434-6321-8.
Hough, Frank O.; Ludwig, Verle E.; Shaw, Henry I. Jr. "Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal". History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Retrieved 2006-05-16.