Many stories about Hyūga during this period appear in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, particularly in the early "Age of the Gods" period in which the descendants of the kami, including Amaterasu, Amenohoakari, Hikohohodemi, Hoderi and others, descended on the peak of Takachiho, bringing to the primitive inhabitants the secrets of rice cultivation, metals working and advanced fishing and agricultural technologies, which later spread from this area to the Kinai region.

In the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, Hyūga is called the “land of the Kumaso” (熊曽国) of Tsukushi-no-shima (Kyushu), which is named along with the provinces of Tsukushi, Toyo and Hi.

The existence of kofun clusters indicates that there was a political relationship between the local rulers and the Yamato Kingdom before the Asuka period.

The Hyūga-no-kuni Fudoki was compiled in the first half of the 8th century by Fujiwara no Umakai, who may have visited the area in person.

In 1185, Tadahisa Koremune, possibly an illegitimate son of Minamoto no Yoritomo was appointed to the position of jitō of Shimazu-shō (a large shōen estate located in southern Kyushu) belonging to the Konoe family.

Unlike many of the provinces of Kyūshū, Hyūga was not dominated by a single daimyō; rather, it was divided into tenryō territory directly governed by the Tokugawa shogunate and a few small domains.

[3] Per the early Meiji period Kyudaka kyuryo Torishirabe-chō (旧高旧領取調帳), an official government assessment of the nation's resources, the province had 377 villages with a total kokudaka of 417,393 koku.