Akashi is located in southern Hyōgo prefecture, and is a long and narrow municipality along the Seto Inland Sea.

[3] Akashi is mentioned in a waka (five-line, 31-syllable poem) written by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro in the 7th century and it is the setting for one of the chapters of the 11th-century novel The Tale of Genji.

It developed as the castle town of Akashi Domain during the Edo Period, from 1617 to 1871 due to its location dominating the San'yōdō highway connecting the Kinai region with western Japan.

The city annexed the neighboring villages of Hayashizaki on February 11, 1942 and Okubo, Uozumi and Futami on January 10, 1951 to reach its present dimensions.

Akashi has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 30 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of Hyōgo 9th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Yamato Scale, a leading global manufacturer of commercial weighing and packaging equipment, is headquartered in the city.

[6] Due to its transportation connections and location, numerous bedroom communities have developed for commuters to Kobe and Osaka, which is estimated to exceed 30% of the working population.