The turbines were designed to produce 38,500 shaft horsepower (28,700 kW), which would propel the ships at 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph).

[5] Upon commissioning, Minekaze was teamed with sister ships Sawakaze, Okikaze, and Yakaze, at the Sasebo Naval District to form Destroyer Division 2 under the 2nd Fleet.

In 1937–38, Minekaze was assigned to patrols of the northern and central China coastlines in support of Japanese efforts in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Minekaze was based at the Chinkai Guard District in Korea, and was assigned to patrols of the Tsushima Straits and Chishima Islands coastlines.

From April 1942, Minekaze was reassigned to the Sasebo Naval District for patrol and convoy escort duties.

On 9 May, she assisted in the rescue of passengers from the Taiyō Maru, which had been sunk by an American submarine en route to southeast Asia with many civilian engineers and technicians.