In the 5th century AD, Kumano Atai (久麻直) was appointed by the Yamato court (大和朝廷) to be the Shinobu Kuni no miyatsuko (信夫国造), giving him control over the Fukushima Basin.

Under the Nara period's Ritsuryō system, stations were established along the Seven Circuits so that officials could change horses.

The implementation of the Ritsuryō system also resulted in administrative changes, with the area of present-day Fukushima and Date being combined to form the district of Shinobu.

This was the northernmost point of the Mutsu Province and held responsibility for preventing the southern expansion of the Emishi, a people who lived in northern Honshū.

After 718, and the widening influence of the Yamato Imperial Court, Mutsu Province was expanded northwards into present-day Miyagi Prefecture.

As a reform to the sōyōchō (租庸調) tax on rice, labor, and textiles, there was a nationwide effort from the Imperial Court to split up districts so they each had approximately the same population.

With Mutsu Province viewed as reclaimed land by the Imperial Court, the area saw a significant amount of reorganization.

In the late Heian period, almost the entirety of the Tōhoku region was ruled by the Northern Fujiwara clan.

In 1413, Date Mochimune (伊達持宗) shut himself inside Daibutsu Castle (大仏城) in defiance of the Kamakura kubō.

This is the first known historical mention of Daibutsu Castle, which was near the confluence of the Abukuma and Arakawa rivers at the present-day location of the Fukushima Prefectural Offices.

In 1600, Date Masamune and Honjō Shigenaga, who was under the Uesugi clan and head of Fukushima Castle at the time, fought the Battle of Matsukawa (松川の戦い).

In 1664 the Uesugi clan lost control of the Shinobu district, and the area became directly ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate.

On November 3, 1881, National Route 13 (國道13號, Kokudō Jūsan-gō), which generally followed a portion of the old Ushū Kaidō, was opened and linked Fukushima to Yonezawa, approximately 45 km to the northwest.

1890 saw the opening of the Tri-District Joint Association Hospital (三郡共立組合病院), which was the predecessor of Fukushima Medical University.

Near the end of World War II, in which Japan had initiated wars with a number of Pacific powers to create the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, on July 20, 1945, a United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombed the Watari area.

On April 27, 1948, at 12:04 am, a train on the Ōu Main Line bound for Ueno derailed upon exiting a tunnel between Akaiwa and Niwasaka stations, killing three crew members.

Upon inspection of the crash scene it was determined that someone had removed from the track two connecting plates, six spikes, and four bolts.

The section of the Tōhoku Expressway linking Kōriyama in the south to Shiroishi in the north, via Fukushima, opened on April 1, 1975.

The Tōhoku Shinkansen opened on June 23, 1982, and connected Ōmiya in the south to Morioka in the north, via Fukushima.

On August 4 and 5 of 1986 the Abukuma River and its tributaries flooded due to Nakdōri receiving from 200 to 300 mm (7.9 to 11.8 in) of rain from a typhoon.

Cities and towns along the Abukuma River and its tributaries, Fukushima included, suffered 11 people killed or injured, and damage to 14,000 buildings.

April 1, 2007, was the 100th anniversary of Fukushima becoming a city, and to celebrate, a dashi (山車, a type of parade float) festival was held on June 30.

The lowest point is the neighborhood of Mukaisenoue (向瀬上), which is in the northeastern part of the city and has an elevation of 55 m (180 ft).

Shinobu, 276 m (906 ft) a monadnock, lies in the southeastern section of the Fukushima Basin and is a symbol of the city.

The Abukuma River flows south to north through the central area of Fukushima and joins with many tributaries on its journey through the city.

From there it continues flowing southeast before meeting up with the Abukuma River in northern Fukushima, thus completing its 32 km (20 mi) run.

There is often a large temperature and weather difference between central Fukushima versus the mountains on the edge of the city.

[13][14] Fukushima has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 35 members.

Other industries in Fukushima include those dealing with food at 7.6% of total output, metals at 7.5%, chemistry at 5.3%, ceramics at 4.9%, electricity at 4.5%, printed goods at 2.8%, steel at 2.5%, plastics at 2.5%, and electronics at 2.2%.

The museum houses 2,200 works, including French Impressionism, 20th century American realism, Japanese modern paintings, prints, earthenwares, ceramics and textiles.