Akita is located in the northern part of the Tohoku Region, bordering the Sea of Japan. The prefecture is rectangular in shape and runs 181km from north to south, and 111km from east to west. With a total area of 11,612.11 square kilometers, it is the 6th largest prefecture in Japan and contains 9 cities, 50 towns and 10 villages. The 40 degrees north parallel cuts through the middle of the prefecture and also runs through the cities of Peking, Madrid and New York.

The Ou Mountain Range running north to south marks the border with Iwate Prefecture and is a series of mountains as high as 1000 meters. Running parallel to the west of this range are the Dewa Mountain Ranges that average a height of 400 meters.

Three large rivers (the Yoneshiro, Omono and Koyoshi) created the Noshiro, Akita and Honjo plains between the Dewa Mountains and the Sea of Japan. The Hanawa, Odate and Yokote Basins are all located inland.

Akita has long winters and short summers. The Dewa Mountains divide the region into two distinct climates. The Tsushima current warms the Oga Peninsula and coastal areas and the temperature is moderate all year round. Inland, the summers are hotter and the winters are colder, with large amounts of snow in the Yokote area.

Many stone implements and earthenware have been excavated in various sites across Akita, and there have also been discoveries of some shell mounds and the remains of prehistoric earth-floor huts.
Remains such as Yonegamori (Kyowa Town) of the Old Stone Age, Sugisawadai (Noshiro City) and the Stone Circles in Oyu (Kazuno City) of the Jomon Period and Isedotai (Takanosu Town) illustrate the life and culture of our ancestors in ancient times.

The first historical record of Akita dates back to 658, when Abeno Hirafu and his fleet conquered the Ezo in Akita and Nushiro. In 733, Dewanosaku Fort on the Mogami River was replaced by a new fort that was built at what is now Takashimizu , in Akita City. It was named Akita Castle towards the end of the 8th Century. The remains of Hottanosaku Fort in Senboku Town are an important monument that show us what a Governor's headquarters was like in the Heian Period.

The Kiyohara Family of Dewa province won the rule of Mutsu province after their victory in the War of Zenkunen (1051-1062). However, Kiyohira, a member of the same clan, defeated the main house in the War of Gosannen (1084-1087). He then changed the name back to Fujiwara, as it had been before the Zenkunen War, and became the founder of the Hiraizumi Fujiwara.

Then, in the late 12th Century, Minamoto Yoritomo took over all of Oshu (roughly what is now the Tohoku region) and appointed his followers as Jito (military governors) in every region. In the latter part of the 13th Century, the Asari settled in Hinai and the Onodera in Ogachi. In the 14th Century advanced in Yamamoto Area, the Ando of Tsugaru advanced into the Yamamoto area, and the Onodera of Ogachi enlarged their territories.

The Tozawa of Senboku, who emerged at the end of the 14th Century, the Akita (Ando), and the Onodera, survived the struggle among the daimyo, but were subsequently incorporated under the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had control over the majority of Japan at the end of the 16th Century. When the Tokugawa shogunate took over from Toyotomi, however, they were forced to disperse to different areas.

Following the Battle of Sekigahara in 1602, Satake Yoshinobu was assigned by the Tokugawa as a lord to reign the six provinces of Akita. Over the 12 generations of 260 years that they ruled, they built a solid foundation for Akita to develop its industrial economy and culture after the Meiji Era by fostering education and the production of crops and metals.

In 1871, as the han (daimyo domains) were abolished and converted into prefectures, Akita-han became Akita-ken, and part of Ogachi province became Iwasaki-ken. Yuri province was divided into Kameda-ken, Honjo-ken and Yashima-ken, Nikaho became part of Yamagata-ken and kazuno became part of Iwate-ken. However, they were all united to form Akita-ken later that year.