Naruhiko Kawaguchi is renowned for having focussed on historically informed performance and the fortepiano repertoire. He has won various notable awards, such as the Musica Antiqua Bruges Prize (2016) and the Muzio Clementi Prize at the 1st International Fortepiano Competition in Rome, and he also obtained an outstanding second place at the 1st International Chopin Competition for Period Instruments.

As a concert performer, he has appeared at some of the most relevant festivals specialised in early music and historically informed performance, such as the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Chopin and his Europe festival in Warsaw, the Monteverdi Festival in Cremona, the Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht and the Goldberg Festival in Gdansk.