San Francisco to Tokyo: time difference and best times to meet

Tokyo is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco. Their working days overlap for 2 hours, from 4pm to 6pm in San Francisco (9am–11am in Tokyo). The best time to schedule is 4pm San Francisco time, which is 9am in Tokyo.

By LemCall EditorialUpdated November 3, 2026

San Francisco

03:07

America/Los_Angeles

Tokyo

20:07

Asia/Tokyo

San Francisco and Tokyo time difference

This live comparison uses the current time-zone rules for both cities, so it reflects daylight-saving changes as well as the usual San Francisco and Tokyo clock gap. Set your working hours below to see the practical overlap before proposing a meeting.

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.

Day starts

Day ends

San Francisco	Tokyo	Suitable?
12am	5pm	Working hours in Tokyo only
9am	2am	Working hours in San Francisco only
10am	3am	Working hours in San Francisco only
11am	4am	Working hours in San Francisco only
12pm	5am	Working hours in San Francisco only
1pm	6am	Working hours in San Francisco only
2pm	7am	Working hours in San Francisco only
3pm	8am	Working hours in San Francisco only
4pm	9am	Both cities at work
5pm	10am	Both cities at work
6pm	11am	Working hours in Tokyo only
7pm	12pm	Working hours in Tokyo only
8pm	1pm	Working hours in Tokyo only
9pm	2pm	Working hours in Tokyo only
10pm	3pm	Working hours in Tokyo only
11pm	4pm	Working hours in Tokyo only

Best times to propose

1. 4pm in San Francisco · 9am in Tokyo — Right at the edge of someone's day
2. 5pm in San Francisco · 10am in Tokyo — Right at the edge of someone's day

Avoid 12am San Francisco time and 9am San Francisco time — only the other city is at work.

When the gap changes in the next twelve months

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 that date.

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.

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 2 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 17 hours ahead of San Francisco. That changes to 16 hours ahead of on Sunday, March 14, 2027, when one side shifts for daylight saving.
When is the best time to schedule a meeting between San Francisco and Tokyo?: 4pm 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?: 2 hours, from 4pm to 6pm San Francisco time (9am–11am in Tokyo).
Does daylight saving change the San Francisco–Tokyo gap?: Yes. Over the next twelve months the difference changes 1 time: 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 Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — a public holiday where Tokyo is, but a normal working day in San Francisco.

Nearby pairs

Sources

1.IANA. Time Zone Database
2.Nager.Date. Public holidays API · Retrieved 2026-11-03