Skip to content
Time gap

Time differences

Time difference between New York and Tokyo

No office hour works for both on a typical weekday — the bars below show the closest.

 

 

 

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

Tap any column to see that moment in every city.

Different hours for each city
  • 13–14 hoursTokyo ahead of New York
  • UTC−5 / UTC−4New York, January / July
  • UTC+9Tokyo, January and July
  • 0 hoursshared 9-to-5 time

How the gap moves through the year

Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York for about 8 months of the year.

Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of New York for about 4 months of the year.

From the second Sunday in March (when New York moves forward), Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York.

From the first Sunday in November (when New York falls back), Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of New York.

New York 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 Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5) and Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4).

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): New York falls back on Sun 1 November 2026.

Everything on this page also holds if you swap New York for Toronto, Havana, Montreal, Philadelphia or Port-au-Prince, or Tokyo for Seoul, Busan, Pyongyang, Osaka or Dili — those cities follow exactly the same clock all year.

Working hours that overlap

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

July is no different.

Even with both days stretched to 8:00–18:00 there is no shared hour, so one side always joins outside the office day. Rotating who takes the early or late slot is the usual fix.

Across the week

At 9:00 on a Monday morning in New York, it is 11:00 pm on Monday in Tokyo.

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

The other way round, 5 hours of a Tokyo working week fall on the New York weekend.

Daylight, distance and night calls

New York and Tokyo are about 10,850 km (6,740 miles) apart and 146° of longitude apart, which by the sun alone would be 9 hours 45 minutes.

New York's winter clock sits within 4 minutes of the sun, and Tokyo's runs 19 minutes behind the sun.

In mid-January the sun is up in New York from about 7:18 am to 4:52 pm, and the sun is up in Tokyo from about 6:50 am to 4:50 pm; there is no moment when both are in daylight.

In mid-July the sun is up in New York from about 5:37 am to 8:27 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 5 hours 15 minutes.

In January, 7 hours of a New York office day fall in Tokyo's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 5 hours of a Tokyo office day fall in New York's night.

In July, 8 hours of a New York office day fall in Tokyo's night (10 pm to 6 am), and 6 hours of a Tokyo office day fall in New York's night.

Two usual compromises in January: an early call at 7:00 am in New York is 9:00 pm in Tokyo; a late call at 6:00 pm in New York is 8:00 am the next day there.

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

Common mistakes with New York and Tokyo

  • Forgetting that the gap changes even though Tokyo never touches its clocks: New York does, so a meeting fixed in Tokyo time moves by an hour for people in New York.
  • 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 “EST” all year for New York. In summer the zone is Eastern Daylight Time; calendar apps handle it, but a typed time in an email can be read the wrong way.

Questions

Is Tokyo ahead of New York?
Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of New York in January and 13 hours ahead of New York in July.
What is a good time for a meeting between New York and Tokyo?
There is no hour that is inside a 9-to-5 day in both cities. The least painful option is usually early morning in one and early evening in the other; drag the slider above to see the trade-off on your date.
Does the time difference between New York and Tokyo change?
Yes. Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of New York for about 8 months of the year. Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of New York for about 4 months of the year.

Related time differences

New York 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.