It’s called Bookmarker, but it’s not just a bookmark. It’s a design object that transforms an intimate, everyday gesture — that of reading — into something visible and tangible. A piece of furniture designed for those who love to read, for those who wish they did it more often, or for those who want to keep close the book they’re about to start, the one they haven’t finished yet, or the art volume they like to browse from time to time.

Bookmarker is made up of three parts, all cut from a single panel of vertically laminated Japanese cypress. An efficient cutting process that reduces waste and allows the piece to be shipped flat-packed. The result, born almost by chance or perhaps by necessity, is a shape that becomes its distinctive feature: a design gesture that combines simplicity and functionality, allowing access to books both from the inside (the user’s side) and the outside.

Finished with a water-repellent ceramic coating, Bookmarker is a discreet yet evocative piece of furniture, capable of telling the story of the time we devote to reading. This side table designed by StudioYO is the first product by Bito, the new brand launched in 2025 by Ichiryu Mokko, a company based in Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, that has specialized in furniture making since 1965.