"Sakawa", named after the Sakawa River, was laid down on 21 November 1942 at Sasebo Naval Arsenal. The ship was launched on 9 April 1944 and completed on 30 November. On commissioning, she was assigned directly to the Combined Fleet. On 15 January 1945 "Sakawa" became flagship of Destroyer Squadron 11, training with new destroyers in the Inland Sea, and participating in a series of tests of a new anti-radar submarine coating. On 1 April, the squadron was assigned to Operation Ten-Go, the suicide mission against the American invasion forces at Okinawa. They were originally scheduled to accompany the battleship and her sister ship , but there was no fuel available for the squadron to participate in the mission.