[1] Established in 1611 in Nagoya by Sukemichi "Ranmaru" Itō [ja], it is one of the oldest department stores in the world.

[citation needed] The store in Ueno at Shitaya Hirokoji was depicted in an ukiyo-e print from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by Hiroshige II in 1856.

The latest exhibitions featured ancient Egyptian treasures from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, works by Rubens from the collection of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci from the Czartoryski Museum in Kraków, and exhibit about empress Maria Theresa and Schönbrunn Palace.

[11][12][13] Along with Maruei, Meitetsu, and formerly Oriental Nakamura (now Mitsukoshi), Matsuzakaya is one of the four major department stores of Nagoya.

The main store in Nagoya is served by Yabachō Station and has a direct underground passage and entry to the subway.