Warmed by the Kuroshio Current offshore, the area is known for its moderate maritime climate with hot, humid summers, and short winters.

During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period in 1889, Atami village was organized within Kamo District, Shizuoka.

[5] The tsunami wave height reached 11 meters (35 feet) at Atami, swamping the town and drowning three hundred people.

[7] The Inagawa-kai, third largest of Japan's yakuza groups, was founded in Atami in 1949 as the Inagawa-gumi (稲川組) by Kakuji Inagawa.

After the proclamation of Atami as an "International Tourism and Culture City" by the Japanese government in 1950, the area experienced rapid growth in large resort hotel development.

Atami experienced a considerable decline in popularity as a vacation destination due to the Japanese economic crisis in the 1990s and the associated fall in large group company-sponsored vacations, but is currently experiencing a revival as a commuter town due to its proximity to Tokyo and Yokohama.

[10][11][12][13] Atami has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 15 members.