Shortly after the war, she was demilitarized, with her guns disabled, and her torpedoes, ammunition and other armament removed. On 5 October, the ship was struck from the navy list. Later that month "Sakawa" was used to evacuate 1,339 Imperial Japanese Army troops stranded on four small islands (Sonsorol, Fanna, Merir and Hatohobei) in the southern Palau group. She continued to work for the Repatriation Service as a transport until the end of February 1946, returning Japanese troops from New Guinea, Korea and from other locations.