Time difference between Tokyo and New York

The gap is not the same all year

Every converter gives one number for this pair. That number is right for most of the year and wrong for part of it, because Tokyo does not change its clocks and New York goes forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November.

Tokyo stays put all year while New York moves, so the gap changes twice a year from New York's side alone. A recurring meeting set in Tokyo's calendar will drift by an hour without anyone touching it.

About Tokyo and New York

Japan is UTC+9 with no daylight saving anywhere, and has not had it since the occupation ended in 1952. The whole country runs one zone and the business day starts early, so the useful overlap with Europe is Japan's late afternoon.

New York is UTC−5 in winter and UTC−4 from March to November, and it changes clocks on different weekends from Europe — a fortnight in March and a week in autumn when the transatlantic gap is an hour off what everyone expects.

What 13 hours actually costs you

There is no shared working hour at all. Nine to five in Tokyo is 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM in New York. Somebody has to be outside their working day, and the only question is who — so the useful thing is to decide that once rather than rediscover it every time.

The least painful slot is 6:00 AM in Tokyo, which is 5:00 PM in New York. That is 3 hours outside somebody's working day and it is the smallest that gap gets — every other hour of the clock costs more.

At 13 hours the two are far enough apart that the date stops matching. Midday in Tokyo is 11:00 PM the previous day in New York. "Tomorrow morning" means different things to the two of you, and a deadline given without a date attached will be missed by one side or the other.

When they can both be at their desks

Nine-to-five in Tokyo and nine-to-five in New York do not overlap at all. With 13 hours between them, one side is always outside working hours, and the practical question is which side takes the early start or the late finish rather than when to meet.

Tokyo

New York

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How far apart Tokyo and New York are

The shortest path over the Earth's surface between the two is 10,852 km (6,743 miles). Flown along that line, an airliner at cruising speed takes roughly 13 hours 35 minutes in the air — actual routings add to it, and whether a nonstop service exists depends on the airlines rather than the distance.

Over that distance you cross 13 hours of clock, which is where jet lag comes from: the body shifts by about an hour a day, so 13 hours takes most people 13 days or so to absorb. Flying west to New York is the easier direction — you gain the hours, and staying up later comes more naturally than going to bed early.

Tokyo to New York, hour by hour

On the usual gap of 13 hours.

Frequently asked questions