Experiences – Life – Inspiration 🇨🇭🇯🇵

Have you ever stepped into an elevator, pressed the wrong floor button, and immediately thought, “Oops… now I’m stuck making a stop I didn’t need”?

Well, here’s a fun little secret: some Japanese elevators actually let you undo your mistake — if you know the trick.

I recently overheard a Japanese YouTuber talking about this quirky elevator hack. He said that if you double-press the same floor button, it can sometimes cancel your selection. Sounds like a hidden life cheat, right? Except… it doesn’t always work.

That’s because not all elevators in Japan are created equal. Some brands like Mitsubishi, Toshiba, or Otis may respond to a quick double-tap. Others like Hitachi require you to press and hold the button for a few seconds. And a few—well, they’ll just ignore your best efforts entirely.

Apparently, it depends on the manufacturer and settings of the elevator system. In some buildings, this feature—known as car call cancellation—is turned on. In others, it’s disabled for safety or simplicity.

So next time you press the wrong floor, try this:

👉 Double-tap the same button quickly.

If the light turns off, congratulations—you’ve just unlocked a hidden feature of Japanese everyday life!

If it doesn’t work… well, you’ll just have to enjoy the unexpected detour. Consider it a mini adventure in your day.

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This trick isn’t purely Japanese magic. In fact, the feature exists in many countries — it’s just less well-known elsewhere.

For instance, Toshiba’s elevator manual in Japan clearly states:

“Push the destination floor button twice within 3 seconds to cancel. The light of the destination floor button will turn off.”

Fujitec, another Japanese manufacturer, adds the same function:

“If you’ve pressed the wrong car-call button, this mistake can be cancelled by pushing the same button twice.”

But even outside Japan, it’s been spotted. A U.S. patent titled “Elevator system and method of cancelling passenger requested floor destination” describes how the system allows or restricts cancellations depending on timing or movement. Some European elevator systems list a feature called “False car-call cancelling” or “Active car call cancellation,” which lets users undo a wrong floor if it’s still early enough — before the doors close or the car moves.

So yes — the technology exists worldwide, but in practice, it’s often hit-or-miss. Whether it works depends on how the elevator is programmed, the local safety rules, and sometimes just pure luck.

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Now, before you go hammering that button like you’re entering a cheat code in Street Fighter, here’s a word of advice:

Spam pressing the button won’t help.

Most elevators aren’t impressed by your frantic tapping — they’ll just ignore you.

The cancellation only works if it’s programmed to and if you do it correctly (usually a clean double-tap, not a drum solo). So save your energy — and maybe your dignity — and just embrace the ride if it doesn’t work.

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Japan is full of these small, fascinating design quirks — little touches that make daily life smoother most of the time but sometimes leave you smiling at the effort it takes to outsmart a machine.

So next time you’re in an elevator, whether in Tokyo, Zurich, or New York — go ahead, try the double-tap.

If it works, you’ll feel like a genius.

If it doesn’t… well, at least you learned something new. 😉