Yaizu is an ancient settlement, with Yaizu Shrine claiming to have been founded in the 5th century during the Kofun period. During the Edo period, Yaizu developed as a port under Tanaka Domain, and fish from Yaizu was frequently supplied to the retired Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu at nearby Sumpu Castle. In the October 1, 1886 cadastral reform after the Meiji Restoration, Yaizu Village was established within Mashizu District, Shizuoka prefecture. Mashizu District merged into neighboring Shida District in 1896. The following year, in 1897, author Lafcadio Hearn began his residence in Yaizu.
Yaizu was elevated to town status on June 28, 1901. Yaizu Fishing Cooperative was established in 1903, and started to take frozen catch from Yaizu to Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market from 1908. Shipbuilding facilities, primarily for the production of fishing vessels, was established in 1924. The Yaizu Fishing Cooperative began the first wireless communication with its fishing fleet in Japan in 1925, but overfishing soon led to collapse of bonito stocks in 1926, resulting in a five-year fishing moratorium. After the start of World War II, the Yaizu fishing industry was again hit hard by the requisition of entire Yaizu fishing fleet (113 vessels) and crewmen by Imperial Japanese Navy in 1941. Only 10 vessels survived the war.
Yaizu was elevated to city status on March 1, 1951. On November 1, 1953, Toyota Village merged into Yaizu City. The city name gained international prominence over the Daigo Fukury? Maru Incident, in which a Yaizu-based fishing vessel was irradiated by atomic testing at Bikini Atoll on March 4, 1954. The city further expanded on January 1, 1955 by annexation of the neighboring villages of Higashi Mashizu, Kogawa, ?tomi, and Wada, and on April 1, 1957 when Hirohata Village was divided between Yaizu and Fujieda cities. Yaizu port underwent a major expansion in March 1968. The city was the site of the 2001 Japan Airlines mid-air incident on January 31, 2001. On
