In addition to her native Japanese, Kavaguti is also fluent in Russian and English. From 2003, she studied and majored in international relations at St. Petersburg State University, completing her degree in June 2007. Kavaguti has expressed interest in a career in international diplomacy following her skating career. In December 2008, she acquired Russian citizenship to qualify for a spot on that nation's Olympic team. Japan does not allow dual nationality, so she was obliged to give up her Japanese citizenship and may reapply to get it back only after ten years. When her family name was transliterated from Japanese to Russian and then into Latin characters, "Kawaguchi" became "Kavaguti".
