Jet lag Japan to US usually takes about 7 to 8 days to clear for Los Angeles and 9 to 10 days for New York, which makes the trip home from Tokyo harder than the trip over. For the West Coast, your body clock has to move about 8 hours earlier. For the East Coast, the gap is so close to 12 hours that it may be quicker to let your clock shift later instead.
This is the return leg. For the flight out, see jet lag from the US to Asia. To run your own route, use the jet lag calculator.
Free toolJet Lag CalculatorDays to adjust, plus a shift-before-you-fly schedule.How big is the time difference from Tokyo to the US?
Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles and 13 ahead of New York while the US is on daylight saving time, and one hour more in winter. Japan doesn't change its clocks, so the gap moves only when the US does.
Because the day wraps around, being 16 hours behind Tokyo lands you at the same clock time as being 8 hours ahead. Your body clock can close the gap either way: shift earlier (advance) or later (delay).
| Fly home to | Tokyo ahead by | Advance option | Delay option | Quicker route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, summer | 16 h | 8 h, about 8 days | 16 h, about 11 days | Advance |
| Los Angeles, winter | 17 h | 7 h, about 7 days | 17 h, about 12 days | Advance |
| Denver, summer | 15 h | 9 h, about 9 days | 15 h, about 10 days | Advance |
| Chicago, summer | 14 h | 10 h, about 10 days | 14 h, about 10 days | Toss-up |
| Chicago, winter | 15 h | 9 h, about 9 days | 15 h, about 10 days | Advance |
| New York, summer | 13 h | 11 h, about 11 days | 13 h, about 9 days | Delay |
| New York, winter | 14 h | 10 h, about 10 days | 14 h, about 10 days | Toss-up |
The days use the calculator's rule of thumb: about 1 hour a day when shifting earlier and about 1.5 hours a day when shifting later.
Should you shift earlier or later? A rule of thumb
If your clock needs to move 9 hours earlier or less, plan to advance. At 11 or more, plan to delay. Around 10, it's a toss-up. At 1 hour a day versus 1.5, the two routes take the same time when the advance is about 9.6 hours.
The body sometimes makes this choice on its own. A jet lag review notes that shifting the "wrong" way is common after eastward flights, especially across 8 or more time zones. In one study of people who flew 8 time zones east, only 4 of 6 shifted earlier.
- West Coast: advance. At 7 or 8 hours, it's clearly the shorter route.
- East Coast in summer: delay. It's a bit faster, and it goes with the grain of a body clock that naturally runs slightly longer than 24 hours.
- Chicago, and New York in winter: close to even. Pick one direction and commit.
Consistency matters most. Light at the wrong time can pull your clock the opposite way or stall it, so a half-and-half approach is the slowest of all.
Arriving before you left: the date line
Flying from Japan to the US, you cross the International Date Line eastbound and gain a day, so you often land earlier on the clock than you took off. For example:
- Tokyo 5:00 PM Tuesday to Los Angeles, about 10 hours, lands at 11:00 AM Tuesday, 6 hours "before" takeoff.
- Tokyo 11:00 AM Tuesday to New York, about 13 hours, lands at 11:00 AM Tuesday, the same clock time you left.
Either way, you face a full day before a local bedtime.
On the flight
To Los Angeles, sleep in the first half of the flight; to New York, stay awake for most of it.
- Tokyo to LA, 5:00 PM departure: Lights out around 6:15 PM Tokyo time (2:15 AM in LA). With 15 minutes to fall asleep and three 90-minute cycles, you'd wake at 11:00 PM Tokyo time, 7:00 AM in LA. Your body thinks it's early evening, so it may be hard, but resting in the dark keeps you away from light that would push your clock the wrong way. Keep the shade down after that too.
- Tokyo to New York, 11:00 AM departure: Stay awake with the reading light on for most of the flight. If you nap, keep it to one cycle near the end.
Night-by-night plan: Tokyo to Los Angeles (advance)
Avoid bright light in the hours before your body clock's low point, then get daylight right after it. The low point is your body's sleepiest time, about 3 hours before your usual wake-up. If you were on an 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM routine in Tokyo, it lands at noon in Los Angeles on arrival day, then moves about an hour earlier each day.
| Day | Low point (LA time) | Light plan |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 12:00 PM | Sunglasses until noon, daylight noon to 4 PM |
| Day 2 | 11:00 AM | Sunglasses until 11 AM, daylight 11 AM to 3 PM |
| Day 3 | 10:00 AM | Dim until 10 AM, daylight 10 AM to 2 PM |
| Day 4 | 9:00 AM | Dim until 9 AM, daylight 9 AM to 1 PM |
| Day 5 | 8:00 AM | Dim until 8 AM, daylight 8 AM to noon |
| Day 6 | 7:00 AM | Morning light from 7 AM |
| Day 7 | 6:00 AM | Morning light as soon as you're up |
| Day 8 | 5:00 AM | Same |
| Day 9 | 4:00 AM | Adjusted |
Expect trouble falling asleep and groggy mornings for the first several nights: at 11:00 PM in LA on night 1, your body thinks it's 3:00 PM.
Night-by-night plan: Tokyo to New York in summer (delay)
Get bright light in the hours before the low point and keep things dim for a few hours after it. From that same Tokyo routine, the low point lands at 3:00 PM in New York on arrival day, then moves about 1.5 hours later each day.
| Day | Low point (NY time) | Light plan |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 3:00 PM | Daylight 11 AM to 3 PM, then dim until 7 PM |
| Day 2 | 4:30 PM | Daylight 12:30 to 4:30 PM, then dim until 8:30 PM |
| Day 3 | 6:00 PM | Daylight 2 to 6 PM, then dim lights |
| Day 4 | 7:30 PM | Bright light in the afternoon, dim after 7:30 PM |
| Day 5 | 9:00 PM | Bright light into the evening, dim after 9 PM |
| Day 6 | 10:30 PM | Bright light into the evening, dim after 10:30 PM |
| Day 7 | 12:00 AM | Evening light; mornings are fine |
| Day 8 | 1:30 AM | Keep it dim until about 5:30 AM |
| Day 9 | 3:00 AM | Keep it dim until about 7:00 AM |
| Day 10 | 4:00 AM | Adjusted |
From about day 5, this feels like westward jet lag: sleepy early in the evening and waking very early. Stay in bed with the lights off when that happens.
Make the last days in Japan count
Start shifting in Tokyo, in the direction you've chosen. Two or three days of moving bed and wake-up by an hour a day takes several days off the far end.
- Heading to the West Coast: go to bed and get up an hour earlier each day, with daylight soon after waking. Three days of that cuts LA from about 8 days to about 5.
- Heading to the East Coast: go to bed and get up an hour later each day, with evening light. Three days cuts New York from about 9 days to about 7.
Back home, keep naps to 20 minutes before mid-afternoon and stop caffeine early. Use the caffeine calculator to find your cutoff. For why the eastward direction is the stubborn one, see east vs. west jet lag.