Fuefuki was the center of ancient Kai Province and contains many burial mounds from the Kofun period. The ruins of the Kai Kokubun-ji, the Nara period provincial temple are also found within the city limits, as is the Ichinomiya Asama Shrine, the "ichinomiya" of Kai Province. During the Edo period, all of Kai Province was "tenryō" territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate, with a "daikansho" based at the village of Isawa. During the cadastral reform of the early Meiji period on April 1, 1889, the rural districts of Higashiyatsushiro and Higashiyamanashi Districts were formed.