I’m not a househusband, but I cook and wash dishes a lot. After trying countless sponges, for the past five years I’ve stuck with the Marna fish sponge.

Easy to hold, foams well, and cute

I first found it at a nearby supermarket—not at the 100-yen shop or drugstore. It was just over ¥200. At the time I used 5-for-¥100 Daiso sponges, so one sponge for ¥200 felt steep, but we were out, so I grabbed it.

The oval shape fits the hand. I’d used square sponges that felt too big or stiff. My hands are small for a guy (width 8.5 cm, circumference 19 cm—same as my wife; I wear size S gloves), and this size is perfect.

Ill-fitting sponge pain points:

• Huge
• Huge and thin
• Huge, thin, and stiff

The fish sponge nails size/thickness/firmness from day one. The coarse bottom layer (thin pink) makes suds easily and stays durable—even the coarse side doesn’t mash down or tear when washing knife blades. The tail reaches cup corners for tea-stain scrubbing.

Lots of colors

My supermarket stocked blue, green, pink. Turns out there are 10 colors total.

Turquoise, pale yellow—colors I’d never seen. List price is ~¥250 each; ¥2,500 for 10 with shipping is a mild deal.

I once bought a 5-pack on Amazon for ¥1,100 (¥220 each), same as in-store. The standard blue can be as low as ¥146 each:

That page also sells yellow/pink/green for ~¥150 now.

We bought yellow/pink/green because they were cheapest. They last long enough that I don’t need 10. Durability: roughly 3 months with normal use. When the dark-pink nylon layer peels from the white middle, it looks sad—that’s my cue to swap.

Lookalikes at 100-yen shops

Only one supermarket near us sells them. That shop is a bit far, so when we ran out I tried a fish-shaped sponge at a closer 100-yen store. I didn’t know Marna then—thought it was a packaging change.

Once opened it felt too soft (no backbone) and small for my hand. It worked, but died in about a month—the coarse side used weak material and collapsed fast. Amazing how a ~¥100 difference matters.

About Marna, the maker

You see Marna often on Amazon kitchen tools: the “pig drop lid”, the “standing rice paddle”, etc.

We have the pig lid—bought to avoid making foil lids; great for kakuni and nikujaga.

Marna Inc. makes more than kitchen items: bath, toilet, living, cleaning—same categories I saw when researching 100-yen maker Kokubo.

Japanese makers behind 100-yen goods you see everywhere

en.shimashimanoneko.com/posts/domestic-100yen-shop-maker

Marna products feel like 100-yen items, but you rarely see them there. More common in supermarkets, drugstores, and department food floors. Given the fish sponge’s quality gap vs. 100-yen versions, their lineup likely skews higher quality overall.

Marna’s history is wild

Company overview: a 140-year-old firm. Founded in Niigata in 1872, moved to Sumida, Tokyo under the second generation. Started selling brushes, spotted foreigners’ clothes brushes, expanded into household goods. Then, because they were in Sumida, their base was destroyed twice—in the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Tokyo air raids—and they rebuilt both times. See their history:

https://marna.jp/shop/pages/aboutus_history.aspx

The fish sponge made me like Marna too

Knowing the backstory adds charm. Searching Marna on Amazon surfaces other hits:

The toilet brush is popular; I recall seeing it on TV—the brush is suspended and exposed to air, so it’s more hygienic than a cup. There’s even a frying pan cleaning brush (German-made—imported?). Marna keeps things interesting.