San Francisco to Tokyo: time difference and best times to meet
Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of San Francisco. Their working days overlap for 1 hour, from 5pm to 6pm in San Francisco (9am–10am in Tokyo). The best time to schedule is 5pm San Francisco time, which is 9am in Tokyo.
America/Los_Angeles
Asia/Tokyo
Hour-by-hour overlap
Each row is one hour of the San Francisco day and the matching hour in Tokyo. Adjust the working hours to match how your team actually works.
| San Francisco | Tokyo | Suitable? |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 4pm | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 1am | 5pm | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 9am | 1am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 10am | 2am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 11am | 3am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 12pm | 4am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 1pm | 5am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 2pm | 6am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 3pm | 7am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 4pm | 8am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 5pm | 9am | Both cities at work |
| 6pm | 10am | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 7pm | 11am | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 8pm | 12pm | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 9pm | 1pm | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 10pm | 2pm | Working hours in Tokyo only |
| 11pm | 3pm | Working hours in Tokyo only |
Best times to propose
- 1. 5pm in San Francisco · 9am in Tokyo — Right at the edge of someone's day
Avoid 12am San Francisco time and 1am San Francisco time — only the other city is at work.
When the gap changes in the next twelve months
- Sunday, November 1, 2026 — Tokyo goes from 16 hours ahead of to 17 hours ahead of San Francisco.
- Sunday, March 14, 2027 — Tokyo goes from 17 hours ahead of to 16 hours ahead of San Francisco.
Recurring meetings set as a fixed clock time in one city will move by an hour for the other on these dates.
Public holidays to avoid
Dates where one side is off work while the other is not are the most common cause of no-shows on this route.
- Monday, September 21, 2026 — Respect for the Aged Day — Tokyo is off, San Francisco is working.
- Wednesday, September 23, 2026 — Autumnal Equinox Day — Tokyo is off, San Francisco is working.
- Monday, October 12, 2026 — Indigenous Peoples' Day and Sports Day; both cities are off.
- Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — Culture Day — Tokyo is off, San Francisco is working.
- Wednesday, November 11, 2026 — Veterans Day — San Francisco is off, Tokyo is working.
- Monday, November 23, 2026 — Labour Thanksgiving Day — Tokyo is off, San Francisco is working.
- Thursday, November 26, 2026 — Thanksgiving Day — San Francisco is off, Tokyo is working.
- Friday, December 25, 2026 — Christmas Day — San Francisco is off, Tokyo is working.
With 1 shared working hours, San Francisco and Tokyo can run standing meetings without anyone giving up an evening — as long as the slot sits inside that window on both sides of the next clock change.
Sending a booking link avoids the arithmetic entirely: each side picks a time in their own zone and both calendars get the correct local time, including after a daylight-saving change. See how LemCall handles cross-timezone bookings.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the time difference between San Francisco and Tokyo?
- Tokyo is currently 16 hours ahead of San Francisco. That changes to 17 hours ahead of on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when one side shifts for daylight saving.
- When is the best time to schedule a meeting between San Francisco and Tokyo?
- 5pm in San Francisco, which is 9am in Tokyo. Right at the edge of someone's day.
- How many hours do San Francisco and Tokyo overlap?
- 1 hours, from 5pm to 6pm San Francisco time (9am–10am in Tokyo).
- Does daylight saving change the San Francisco–Tokyo gap?
- Yes. Over the next twelve months the difference changes 2 times: Sunday, November 1, 2026 (16 hours ahead of becomes 17 hours ahead of); Sunday, March 14, 2027 (17 hours ahead of becomes 16 hours ahead of).
- Are there public holidays that affect San Francisco–Tokyo meetings?
- Yes. The next is Monday, September 21, 2026 — a public holiday where Tokyo is, but a normal working day in San Francisco.
Nearby pairs
Other meeting-time pages for San Francisco
- San Francisco ↔ SingaporeNo working-hours overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Hong KongNo working-hours overlap
- San Francisco ↔ ShanghaiNo working-hours overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Sydney2 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Melbourne2 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ London1 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Dublin1 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Seoul1 hours of overlap
Sources
- 1.IANA. Time Zone Database
- 2.Nager.Date. Public holidays API · Retrieved