It is classified as a Major Port (重要港湾, Jūyō-kōwan) by the Japanese government.

In 727 the envoys from Bokkai (Balhae) sailed the Sea of Japan and were calling at Akita Port for the first time.

During the Edo period, Akita was an important port of call on the Kitamaebune route of coastal trade from Osaka to Hokkaido and an important source of revenue for the Satake clan’s Kubota Domain.

The port facilities were extensively damaged in American air raids on August 14, 1945.

[4] After World War II, the port was improved, with the breakwater extended partly though the sinking of the hulks of the kaibokan Ikara and destroyers Momo and Take.