The ship was named after Mount Furutaka, located on Etajima, Hiroshima, immediately behind the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy.

She was reconstructed and modernized at Kure Naval Base in 1932-33, receiving anti-aircraft guns upgraded to 12 cm (4.7 inch), aircraft catapult and an E4N2 floatplane.

In the light of the added top weight, an attempt was made to maintain stability by increasing the ship's beam - not entirely successfully.

From 18 January 1942, Cruiser Division 6 was assigned to support Japanese troop landings at Rabaul, New Britain and Kavieng, New Ireland and in patrols around the Marshall Islands in unsuccessful pursuit of the American fleet.

The following day, 46 SBDs, 21 TBDs and 15 Grumman F4F Wildcats from Yorktown and Lexington damaged the aircraft carrier Shōkaku severely above the waterline and forced her to return to Japan for extensive repairs.

On the Japanese side, Chōkai was hit three times, Kinugasa twice, Aoba once and Furutaka was not damaged and returned to Kavieng on 10 August.

During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August, Cruiser Division 6 and Chōkai departed Shortland to provide distant cover for the Guadalcanal reinforcement convoys.

With Aoba crippled, Captain Araki of Furutaka turned his ship out of the line of battle to engage Salt Lake City.

At 23:54, Furutaka was hit by a torpedo from USS Buchanan that flooded her forward engine room and permanently disabled her.

During the battle, about 90 shells hit Furutaka and some ignited her Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes, starting fires.

The wreck of Furutaka was discovered on 25 February 2019 by the research vessel, RV Petrel in 600 metres (2,000 ft) of water.