Like her sister ships, (the Itsukushima and Hashidate) her name comes from one of the traditional Three Views of Japan, in this case, the Matsushima archipelago near Sendai in Miyagi prefecture.

Forming the backbone of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the First Sino-Japanese War, the Matsushima-class cruisers were based on the principles of Jeune École, as promoted by French military advisor and naval architect Louis-Émile Bertin.

The main armament consisted of one breech-loading 320-mm Canet gun mounted in behind the superstructure of the ship, which could fire 450-kg armor-piercing or 350-kg explosive shells at an effective range of 8,000 metres (8,700 yd).

Tertiary protection was by six QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss mounted in sponsons on the upper deck, with a maximum range of 6,000 metres (6,600 yd) and rate of fire of 20 rounds/minute.

In addition, eleven QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss were mounted at various locations, with range of 2,200 metres (2,400 yd) rate of fire of 32 rounds/minute and 800 rounds per gun.

She played a central role in the Battle of the Yalu River, as a part of the Japanese main body with Hashidate, Chiyoda and Itsukushima.

Matsushima also took numerous hits from smaller caliber artillery, damaging her smokestack, masts, and deck equipment, forcing her withdrawal from combat.

Matsushima was among the Japanese fleet units that took part in the invasion of Taiwan in 1895, and saw action on 3 June 1895 at the bombardment of the Chinese coastal forts at Keelung.

From 3 May 1898 to 15 September 1898, Matsushima was assigned to patrolling the sea lanes between Taiwan and Manila, during the period of heightened tension between Japan and the United States during the Spanish–American War.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the hopelessly obsolete Matsushima and her sister ships were assigned to the 5th squadron of the reserve IJN 3rd Fleet, together with the equally outdated ironclad battleship Chin'en under the command of Admiral Shichiro Kataoka.

On 28 February, she was briefly trapped in sea ice off of the island of Kunashir, but managed to break free, losing her right propeller and damaging some of her armor plating.

At the end of the first day of the battle, she was able to attack the cruisers Oleg and Aurora, but took a hit in return which damaged her steering and put her out of action until repairs could be completed.

Later Matsushima was assigned as flagship of Admiral Dewa Shigeto in the IJN 4th Fleet, which was formed for the Japanese invasion of Sakhalin in July and August 1905.

On 30 April 1908, while anchored at Mako in the Pescadores islands off of Taiwan while returning from a training cruise, an accidental explosion occurred in her ammunition magazine.