According to Japanese legend in the Nihon Shoki, following the conquest of the Kumaso people, Emperor Keikō watched the sunrise over the ocean and said "This country faces straight toward the sunrise" (この国は真っ直ぐに日の出る方に向いている, Kono kuni wa massugu ni hinoderu hou ni muite iru).

From that time, the province was known as Hyuga or Hinata (the country facing the sun) until the Meiji Restoration when it was renamed Miyazaki.

The area along Cape Hyūga with its exposed hexagonal pillar rocks and ria (saw tooth) coastline are designated as part of the Nippō Kaigan Quasi-National Park.

The southern part of Hososhima is centered on Hyūga's commercial fishing port between Komenoyama and Makishimayama.

It is also supposedly the port from which the first Japanese Emperor, Jimmu, launched his military expedition to conquer Yamato and establish it as the center of power.

Archaeological digs uncovering pottery from this time period continue today in parts of the city.

[12] During the Edo period, Hyūga was divided between the holdings of Nobeoka Domain and tenryō territory administered directly by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Following the Meiji restoration, the town of Hososhima and villages of Iwawaki ad Tomidaka were established on May 1, 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system.

These mergers began at the start of the Meiji Period when the han system was abolished and the concept of towns and cities arose.

[14] Hyūga has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city council of 20 members.

In terms of national politics, the city is part of the Miyazaki 2nd district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

Hyūga is a major industrial center, with many chemical plants belonging to the Asahi Kasei group.