In talking with friends, one told me of a place in Tokyo called The Dirty Dish. It was supposedly a large Japanese dishware store. I googled the name and found a few write ups on some blogs, one of which had a phone number I could use to look the place up on the map. The google street view of the location matched one of the pictures on the blog entry, so I decided to go check the place out. The actual Japanese name of the store is not known, but the gaijin name of The Dirty Dish stuck due to the warehouse style set up of the store. It is located about a 90 minute drive or train ride from Yokota in the town of Kawasaki. If you drive, there are two pay parking lots around the corner from the store that max out at 900 yen, so parking is reasonable. If you take the train, google maps estimates about a 15-20 minute (1.2km) walk to th store from Musashi-Nakahara Station. It definitely looks like a warehouse from the street.
And inside there are racks and racks of dishes. Cups, mugs, plates, bowls, tea pots, and etceteras of every shape, size, color, and pattern. There isn’t just blue and white pattern.
The day I went everything was 40% off the sticker price, but I’m not sure if this is an everyday discount or something that was happening on that day. Irregardless of the discount, most items are very reasonably priced. Cash only. Katie Campbell, April 2016
Phone: 044-488-4888
Hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1700, closed Sat/Sun & Holidays
Website: http://www.okuno-co.jp/ (Can switch language to English)
Dierctions: GPS for the store: 35.572669, 139.637653
GPS for the two parking areas (across the street from each other): 35.572210, 139.637007