During the Edo Period, the area was part of the holdings of Hiroshima Domain and developed as a post town on the Iwami Ginzan Highway .

Following the Meiji restoration, the area was organized into villages within Sera District, Hiroshima with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

Sera has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members.

In terms of national politics, the town is part of the Hiroshima 6th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan.

The economy of Sera is largely agricultural, with matsutake mushrooms, pears, tomatoes, and rice as major crops.