Makigumo is the high, thin cloud. Fujinagata in Osaka laid her down on 23 December 1940 and launched her on 5 November 1941. She was completed at Maizuru on 14 March 1942, and Isamu Fujita had her from that day. She joined Destroyer Division 10 with Kazagumo and Yugumo. In April Akigumo was added to the division.
At Midway she was in the screen of Nagumo's carriers. On 5 June Nagara sent her to look at something in the water. It was a raft. Two men from a dive bomber of Enterprise (CV-6) came aboard, Ensign Frank W. O'Flaherty and Aviation Machinist's Mate Bruno P. Gaido. A few days later the two men were put over the side. The day is not settled, and the order is not pinned to one officer.
Early on 6 June she and Kazagumo took men off Hiryu. Her mast and rigging fouled the carrier while she lay alongside. She fired two torpedoes. One ran under the ship. One hit near the bow. She left without seeing the carrier go down. Tanikaze was sent to finish the work. Hiryu sank that morning. The sinking is not credited to one ship.
On 24 August she was again in Nagumo's screen, at the Eastern Solomons, and she was not hit. Through the autumn she ran troops to Guadalcanal and to Buna. On the night of 26 October, off the Santa Cruz Islands, she and Akigumo found the abandoned Hornet (CV-8). Each fired two torpedoes into her. The carrier sank at 0135 the next morning. That sinking is not credited to one ship. Later that morning she picked up Aviation Radioman Michael Glasser, a gunner from Enterprise (CV-6). He was sent on to Japan and lived through the war.
On 14 November aircraft left Kinugasa dead in the water, and the cruiser capsized. Makigumo and Kazagumo took off most of her crew. Nine officers and forty-two men were lost with the cruiser. Makigumo did not sink her. Late in November, on a run toward Buna, bombs fell close aboard near the forward stack. They holed her and set a boiler room on fire. The fire was put out. She went back to Japan and was docked for repairs.
On the night of 1 February 1943 she was in the evacuation from Cape Esperance. PT-124 fired three torpedoes at her. They missed. While she turned away she struck a mine aft, between Cape Esperance and Savo. The blast flooded the auxiliary engine room and the crew spaces behind the after gun. She could not steer. Yugumo came up, took a line, and tried to tow her. The stern kept settling. At 0127 on 2 February Yugumo scuttled her with one torpedo, about 6.7 miles from Savo Island. One man was killed, two were missing, and seven were hurt. Sixteen officers, Fujita among them, and 248 men were taken off. She was struck on 1 March.