Department Stores in Japan: All You Need to Know in 2026

Characteristics of Department Stores in Japan

Department stores are a very distinctive format in Japan but there are a several clear variations and some key defining characteristics:

Types of Department Store

There are two types of department store: city stores and regional stores, which largely relate to their locations as implied. City stores are located in one of Japan’s 10 largest cities, while regional stores operate outside these cities. The former are the larger, more successful stores with some properties still prosperous and growing, while the latter are generally in decline, but with some important exceptions. Today, as companies have become larger, the biggest chains have stores both in major cities and in some regional locations too.

History and Status

Department stores in Japan are often seen as some of the most presitiguous retailers available, with this prestige and status often, but not always, linked to company history. A handful of top stores trace their history back hundreds of years, and these are still stores that, through high-end merchandise and luxury brands, as well as premium locations, are still the places where consumers shop for status. A gift wrapped in department store paper is clearly more expensive and, for some, more presitiguous that one from a more modern chain store.

Matsuzakaya, for example, traces its origins back to 1611, first opening soon after the Tokugawa Shogunate came into power. Daimaru, Matsuzakaya’s sister company, is a newcomer in comparison, having been established as late as 1717, a mere 300 years ago. Isetan, Mitsukoshi, Sogo and Takashimaya also all trace histories back hundreds of years. Some surviving stores in regional cities also have long histories, such as Fujisaki in Sendai (1819) or Marui Imai in Sapporo (1872). By the early 1900s, department stores were the largest retailers in Japan, often selling through their own branches and through direct marketing across the whole country.

However, there is a second class of department store which developed much more recently. Most of these were established by major commuter rail operators, opening stores above major terminals to capture the massive customer traffic these terminals generate. There are fewer such companies but all of the larger, privately-owned commuter rail companies are today major retailers in their own right and most also run department stores. These include Seibu, Hankyu, Kintetsu, Tobu, Tokyu, and Meitetsu.

In 2000, Sogo became the first major Japanese retailler to fail since before the OPEC crisis of the early 1970s. Sogo was soon rehabilitated in partnership with another struggling department store to become Sogo Seibu, and after a brief period of ownership by Seven & I Holdings, was acquired by investment fund Fortress in 2023.

Sogo’s early demise was an important milestone as it marked it demonstrated how out of date much of department store retailing had become, with too many underperforming stores and no clear positioning. Since then, other major players have also merged, notably:

• J Front Retailing: formed in 2007, from the merger of Daimaru and Matsuzakaya
• H2O Retaling: formed in 2007, from the merger of Hankyu and Hanshin
• Isetan-Mitsukoshi: formed in 2008

Premium Emporiums

While some of the largest retailers in Japan up to the 1970s, and heavily protected by regulations that made it difficult to open new stores larger than 1,500 sqm, Japan’s retail market began to shift with the development of chain store retailing. Modern, city-located department stores have evolved over the past five decades to position themselves as true luxury emporiums, serving high end customers.

For the leading companies, large parts of their total sales, sometimes as much as 70%, is derived from VIP customer databases, called ‘Gaisho’ (外商) in Japanese. Weathy families who spend large amount with a particular store each year are catered to through personal shopping assistants, VIP lounges, access to private sales events, and numerous other perks – some companies arrange shopping tours for their most exclusive customers. Department stores are also major beneficiaries of Japan’s recent tourist boom.

Food Basements (デパ地下）

A key feature of most department stores is their food basements. Almost all stores operate one or sometimes multiple basement floors offering various food foods. Most space is run by tenant vendors, with a variety of products from packaged foods, through extensive deli and fresh foods, to wide ranges of imported brands. A lot of this is exclusive and high-end, of course, but depachika are also popular among commuters who will visit on their way home in the evening to pick up treats for the evening meal.