Kikuchi started internationally for the first time in the short track at the Junior World Championships in Sherbrooke in 2009 and achieved sixth place with the relay. The following year she finished 12th in the all- around competition and sixth place with the relay at the Junior World Championships in Taipei . Her best results at the Junior World Championships 2011 in Courmayeur were 12th place over 500 m and fifth place with the relay. In March 2014, she was eighth with the relay at the World Championships in Montreal . In the individual races she came in 36th place over 1000 m and 28th place over 500 m and thus reached 36th place in the all-around event. She made her debut in the Short Track World Cup at the beginning of the 2014/15 season in Salt Lake City and finished 30th and 27th in the 1000 m. Place in the World Cup over 1500 m. At the Winter Universiade 2015 in Granada , she took fourth place with the relay. Her best placings at the 2015 World Championships in Moscow were eighth over 1500 m and fourth place with the relay. In the following season she finished 17th in the World Cup over 1500 m with two top ten placements. In February 2016 she achieved her first podium finish in the World Cup with third place in the relay in Dresden . At the season highlight of the 2016 World Championships in Seoul , she finished seventh with the relay. At the Winter Universiade in Almaty in February 2017 , she won the bronze medal over 1500 m. In addition, she achieved ninth place over 1000 m and fourth place over 500 m. The following month she won the bronze medal with the relay at the World Championships in Rotterdam . In addition, she finished there with 24th place over 500 m and 1000 m and with 18th place over 1500 m, 22nd place in the all-around competition. In November 2018, she finished third with the season in Salt Lake City.
Japan
