Current time in Tokyo

Tokyo time zone

Tokyo, and the whole of Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa, uses Japan Standard Time (JST), UTC+9. JST is based on the 135°E meridian, which passes through the city of Akashi near Kobe, and Japan has kept this offset since 1888. South Korea uses the same UTC+9, so Seoul always shows the same time as Tokyo. The IANA zone is Asia/Tokyo.

Japan has no daylight saving time. It used summer time from 1948 to 1951, during the Allied occupation, and dropped it after complaints about longer working days. Proposals to bring it back have come up since, but none has passed.

Time difference between the UK and Tokyo

With Japan on a fixed offset, the difference changes on the UK's clock-change Sundays only.

Best times to call Tokyo from the UK

The window is short. Tokyo office hours end as the UK day starts, so the best slot is 8am to 9am UK time during British Summer Time, or 7am to 8am in winter. The other option is a late UK evening call, which reaches Tokyo at the start of the next morning.

Converting the time

To convert UK time to Tokyo, add 8 hours in summer or 9 in winter. The Tokyo Stock Exchange trades from 9am to 11:30am and 12:30pm to 3:30pm JST, so it closes at 7:30am BST or 6:30am GMT, before most UK markets open. Going the other way, 6pm in Tokyo is 10am in London in summer and 9am in winter. For other dates, use the time zone converter or the meeting planner.

Nearby places

Beijing and Hong Kong are one hour behind Tokyo: see time in China and time in Hong Kong. See every city on the world clock, how GMT relates to UK time, and when the clocks change.

Frequently asked questions