Skip to content
Time gap

Time differences

Time difference between Los Angeles and Tokyo

Good time for both on a weekday: 16:00–17:00 in Los Angeles = 9:00–10:00 in Tokyo.

 

 

 

  • Everyone at work
  • Work hours
  • Awake
  • Night
  • Weekend

Tap any column to see that moment in every city.

Different hours for each city
  • 16–17 hoursTokyo ahead of Los Angeles
  • UTC−8 / UTC−7Los Angeles, January / July
  • UTC+9Tokyo, January and July
  • 1 hour / 0 hoursshared 9-to-5 time, January / July

How the gap moves through the year

Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles for about 8 months of the year.

Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles for about 4 months of the year.

From the second Sunday in March (when Los Angeles moves forward), Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles.

From the first Sunday in November (when Los Angeles falls back), Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles moves its clocks forward one hour on the second Sunday in March at 2:00 am local time and back on the first Sunday in November at 2:00 am, switching between Pacific Standard Time (UTC−8) and Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7).

Tokyo does not change its clocks: it stays on UTC+9 (Japan Standard Time) all year.

Next clock change for this pair, as of when this page was built (2026-10-20): Los Angeles falls back on Sun 1 November 2026.

Everything on this page also holds if you swap Los Angeles for Tijuana, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle or Las Vegas, or Tokyo for Seoul, Busan, Pyongyang, Osaka or Dili — those cities follow exactly the same clock all year.

Working hours that overlap

In January, a 9-to-5 day in both cities shares 1 hour: 4:00 pm–5:00 pm in Los Angeles, which is 9:00 am–10:00 am in Tokyo.

In July, two 9-to-5 days never meet — not a single quarter-hour is inside working hours in both cities.

Stretching both days to 8:00–18:00 opens 2 hours (4:00 pm–6:00 pm in Los Angeles). Beyond that, one side has to take an early-morning or evening call.

Across the week

At 9:00 on a Monday morning in Los Angeles, it is 2:00 am on Tuesday in Tokyo — already a day ahead there.

8 hours of a Los Angeles working week (Monday to Friday, 9 to 5) fall on the weekend in Tokyo, so part of Monday or Friday is lost for meetings.

Daylight, distance and night calls

Los Angeles and Tokyo are about 8,820 km (5,480 miles) apart and 102° of longitude apart, which by the sun alone would be 6 hours 45 minutes.

Los Angeles's winter clock sits within 7 minutes of the sun, and Tokyo's runs 19 minutes behind the sun.

In mid-January the sun is up in Los Angeles from about 6:58 am to 5:05 pm, and the sun is up in Tokyo from about 6:50 am to 4:50 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 3 hours 15 minutes.

In mid-July the sun is up in Los Angeles from about 5:52 am to 8:05 pm, and the sun is up in Tokyo from about 4:36 am to 6:58 pm; both cities are in daylight at the same time for about 7 hours 30 minutes.

In January, 4 hours of a Los Angeles office day fall in Tokyo's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 2 hours of a Tokyo office day fall in Los Angeles's night.

In July, 5 hours of a Los Angeles office day fall in Tokyo's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 3 hours of a Tokyo office day fall in Los Angeles's night.

Hour-by-hour table and common mistakes — 2 more sections
Each hour in Los Angeles and the same moment in Tokyo, on a Wednesday in January and in July. Shaded: inside 9-to-5 in both.
Los AngelesTokyo, JanuaryTokyo, July
12:00 am5:00 pm4:00 pm
1:00 am6:00 pm5:00 pm
2:00 am7:00 pm6:00 pm
3:00 am8:00 pm7:00 pm
4:00 am9:00 pm8:00 pm
5:00 am10:00 pm9:00 pm
6:00 am11:00 pm10:00 pm
7:00 am12:00 am (+1 day)11:00 pm
8:00 am1:00 am (+1 day)12:00 am (+1 day)
9:00 am2:00 am (+1 day)1:00 am (+1 day)
10:00 am3:00 am (+1 day)2:00 am (+1 day)
11:00 am4:00 am (+1 day)3:00 am (+1 day)
12:00 pm5:00 am (+1 day)4:00 am (+1 day)
1:00 pm6:00 am (+1 day)5:00 am (+1 day)
2:00 pm7:00 am (+1 day)6:00 am (+1 day)
3:00 pm8:00 am (+1 day)7:00 am (+1 day)
4:00 pm9:00 am (+1 day)8:00 am (+1 day)
5:00 pm10:00 am (+1 day)9:00 am (+1 day)
6:00 pm11:00 am (+1 day)10:00 am (+1 day)
7:00 pm12:00 pm (+1 day)11:00 am (+1 day)
8:00 pm1:00 pm (+1 day)12:00 pm (+1 day)
9:00 pm2:00 pm (+1 day)1:00 pm (+1 day)
10:00 pm3:00 pm (+1 day)2:00 pm (+1 day)
11:00 pm4:00 pm (+1 day)3:00 pm (+1 day)

Common mistakes with Los Angeles and Tokyo

  • Forgetting that the gap changes even though Tokyo never touches its clocks: Los Angeles does, so a meeting fixed in Tokyo time moves by an hour for people in Los Angeles.
  • Getting the date wrong. With a gap this large, an afternoon call in one city is the next morning — or the previous evening — in the other. Write the date for both cities in the invite.
  • Writing “PST” all year for Los Angeles. In summer the zone is Pacific Daylight Time; calendar apps handle it, but a typed time in an email can be read the wrong way.

Questions

Is Tokyo ahead of Los Angeles?
Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles in January and 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles in July.
What is a good time for a meeting between Los Angeles and Tokyo?
With 9-to-5 days in both cities, 4:00 pm–5:00 pm Los Angeles time is inside working hours in both, which gives 1 hour. The window can shift by an hour in the weeks when only one city has changed its clocks.
Does the time difference between Los Angeles and Tokyo change?
Yes. Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles for about 8 months of the year. Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of Los Angeles for about 4 months of the year.

Related time differences

Los Angeles time zone · Tokyo time zone · Plan with more cities

City names, coordinates and time zone assignments: GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0 (selection and renaming of some cities by this site). Clock times are computed in your browser from the IANA time zone database. Sources and limits.