The area of Hatsukaichi is part of ancient
Aki Province.
Itsukushima Shrine developed greatly at the end of the
Heian period under the patronage of
Taira no Kiyomori and gained influence in the region. As the shrine was occasionally destroyed by fire or natural disasters, the
Kamakura shogunate, ordered many metal casters moved to the area on the opposite bank (present-day Honmachi, Hatsukaichi City), and the accumulation of living and rebuilding materials such as salt and wood began. Since the last day of the festival held four times a year at Itsukushima Shrine was the 20th, a market began to be held on the 20th of each month as early as the middle of the Kamakura period, and the market on the 20th is called 'Hatsukaichi'. This name appears in official documents from 1454, and since this period, Hatsukaichi has developed as a port and a timber industry town based on the collection of timber from the western Chugoku Mountains. During the
Edo Period, the area was part of the holdings of
Hiroshima Domain. Following the
Meiji Restoration, the town of Hatsukaichi was established within
Saeki District, Hiroshima on April 1, 1889, with the creation of the modern municipalities system. Hatsukaichi merged with four neighboring villages to become the city of Hatsukaichi on April 1, 1988. On March 1, 2003, the town of
Saeki and the village of
Yoshiwa, both from
Saeki District, merged into the expanded city of Hatsukaichi. On November 3, 2005, the towns of
Miyajima and
Ōno (both from
Saeki District) were merged into Hatsukaichi. Therefore,
Saeki District was dissolved as a result of this merger. ==Government==