Jet lag plan
Tokyo is 8 hours behind San Francisco. You're traveling west — the easier direction. Your body delays its clock.
About 8,275 km northwest · approximately 10.5-hour non-stop flight · an ultra-long-haul flight.
The route from San Francisco, United States to Tokyo, Japan covers roughly 8,275 kilometres in a northwest direction. At standard jet cruise speed plus a one-hour allowance for taxi, climb, and descent, a non-stop flight takes about 10.5 hours. Both cities sit in the northern hemisphere, so the seasonal direction of daylight (longer days in June, shorter in December) matches between origin and destination.
San Francisco is in the temperate zone. Day length varies by four to six hours between summer and winter, so the season of your trip materially affects available morning and evening light. Tokyo is in the temperate zone. Day length varies by four to six hours between summer and winter, so the season of your trip materially affects available morning and evening light.
Standard 09:00–18:00 working hours at both ends of this route overlap by approximately 1 hour. In San Francisco that window runs 17:00 to 18:00; in Tokyo it is 09:00 to 10:00. This is the realistic window for live meetings, customer calls, or pair work without forcing either end out of normal hours.
Only one of the two cities observes daylight saving time, so the offset between them shifts by one hour twice a year. If you have recurring meetings on this route, double-check the local time around the DST transitions (March and October/November in the northern hemisphere).
If you are a lark (morning type): Westward travel is the easier direction and larks usually feel close to baseline within 4 days. The risk for larks is overshooting: stay up later than you feel like at the destination for the first two nights to avoid waking before local sunrise.
If you are a night owl (evening type): Westward travel suits owls because the body prefers delaying over advancing. A 8-hour westward shift typically clears in 4 days. Stay outside in the evening light at the destination and avoid early-morning bright light for the first three days.
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The great-circle distance from San Francisco to Tokyo is about 8,275 kilometres. A typical non-stop flight takes around 10.5 hours at standard cruise speed; routes with connections add two to four hours.
Tokyo is currently 8 hours behind San Francisco. Only one of the two cities observes daylight saving time, so the offset between them shifts by one hour twice a year. If you have recurring meetings on this route, double-check the local time around the DST transitions (March and October/November in the northern hemisphere).
Westward travel — which this route is — is the easier direction. Your body delays its clock, which is closer to its natural tendency. Most travellers clear a 8-hour westward shift in 6 days.
For a 8-hour shift, 0.3 to 0.5 mg of melatonin taken three to five hours before target bedtime at the destination is the dose supported by the Cochrane review. Higher doses (3–5 mg) do not advance phase better and increase morning grogginess. Start one day before departure.
Yes — for shifts of four hours or more, shifting bedtime and wake time by one hour per day, starting three days before departure, materially reduces post-arrival jet lag.
Owls (evening types) recover faster on westward routes because the body prefers delaying over advancing. Larks may overshoot — they should stay up later than they feel like at the destination for the first two nights.