Written by: Jin Fujisaki / Published: 2026-02-23
A hybrid of convenience and fun that solves every reader's eternal problem of "losing track of where you left off" through an approach straight out of a B-movie sci-fi flick: alien abduction. But this isn't just a gag — let's unpack the meticulously calculated practicality behind it.
| Close the Book and It "Hovers"; Open It and the "Abduction" Begins
image Rakuten
Using it couldn't be simpler, but the visual gimmick is brilliant. Slip it onto the top of a page and close the book, and only the UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) pops out above the cover, looking for all the world like it's hovering in the skies above the front cover.
Open the book, and a long, slender clear "tractor beam" extends straight down from the UFO — and inside it, a tiny cow is being sucked up while screaming "HELP." Whether you're deep in a serious work of literary fiction or wrestling with a dense textbook, the moment you slip this bookmark in, that page is forcibly rewritten into "the scene of an alien abduction in progress."
| Flawless Functionality That Remembers Not the "Page" but the "Line"
image Impress Watch
The biggest reason this bookmark went viral isn't just its initial gag value. It lies in the fact that the transparent beam portion plays the role of a functional "highlighter" to perfection.
A typical bookmark can only record "which page you read up to," but by laying the tip of this UFO Bookmark's beam over the sentence you're reading, it pinpoints exactly "which line, and which character, you stopped at." Open the book, and within one second you can resume reading from the exact next sentence (the very sentence about to be abducted) without a moment's hesitation. This "reduction of friction" is the essential feature that makes the reading experience dramatically more comfortable.
| Tough PP Material and Exquisite Color Choices
image Hon to Bungu to Suguremono
The material used is PP (polypropylene) — flexible and durable. Unlike paper bookmarks, there's no worry of it bending or fraying inside your bag, so you can carry it confidently through the rough-and-tumble of your daily commute to work or school.
The color lineup comes in three options: the classic "Yellow," the mysterious "Purple," and the pop "Mint." In 2026, a collaboration model even debuted featuring Yurindo's mascot character "R.B. Bukkoro" being abducted, fueling its cult following and collector appeal even further.
| Summary: Reading Motivation You Can Buy for 440 Yen
image PR TIMES
The price is 440 yen, tax included. For about the same as a single paperback, you can add a dose of chuckle-inducing entertainment to your daily reading time.
"Lately, reading printed text has felt like a chore." "My pile of unread books (tsundoku) keeps growing." If that sounds like you, try slipping this UFO Bookmark into your book. A mysterious sense of duty — "I have to save that cow (keep reading) — fast!" — will well up inside you, and your motivation to read will mysteriously start to recover.
