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Kiyotake Kawaguchi was a Japanese general who served during the Second Sino-Japanese and Second World Wars, most notably at the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Born in Kochi prefecture, Kawaguchi graduated from the Japanese Military Academy in 1914, and from Army Staff College in 1922, spending much of the 1920s and 30s in a series of staff positions in both Japan and China before his promotion to major general in 1940.

Appointed commander of the 35th Infantry Brigade, Kawaguchi arrived at Borneo in December 1941 and, during the later stages of the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, landed at Cebu on March 1942 and Mindanao the following month.

In August 1942, under orders from 17th Army commander General Haruyoshi Hyakutake to destroy American forces at Guadalcanal, Kawaguchi led Japanese forces numbering 6,000 and launched a combined air, sea and ground attack against American forces from September 13-14. However, due to poor preparation and planning, Kawaguchi's forces suffered extremely heavy casualties after two days of fighting before being repulsed from the American beachhead.

Dismissed from his post two months later, amidst planning a second assault, Kawaguchi was relegated to the reserve list in 1943 remaining inactive for the remainder of the war. After Japan's surrender, Kawaguchi was convicted of war crimes in 1946 and imprisoned until his release in 1953 and continued to live in Japan until his death in 1961.

• Hough, Frank O., Verle E. Ludwig, and Henry Shaw. from Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. History of the U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, Vol. I. Washington, D.C., 1958.