Japan Travel and Culture Guide

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Japanese Elevators But Were Afraid To Ask

Here's what you need to know about Japanese elevator's before your trip.



Any questions? Ok, here's the real answer. There are only two things you need to know about Japanese elevators:

1. Japanese Elevator Girls

Upscale Japanese department stores have elevator girls. These girls are pretty used to dealing with foreign tourists (particularly shoppers from Korea and other Asian countries) — keep your English simple and you'll be fine.

2. Japanese Elevator Etiquette

Japanese people are polite in elevators (and everywhere else). They'll go out of their way to hold the door for you using the open button.



The problem for the foreign tourist is knowing which button is open. If you panic and hit the wrong button you'll crush people in the elevator doors (okay, they won't be crushed but it'll be embarrassing).

The kanji for open looks like a picnic table jammed inside a door:

開

Easy to remember right?

The other thing to remember is that the person closest to the buttons is always last to get out at a given floor. That's because the person closest to the buttons is basically in charge of the buttons.

If you forget the kanji for open (開) — avoid standing near the buttons.

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