Best Meeting Time: Reykjavik to Tokyo
🕐 Live Timezone Overlap: Reykjavik & Tokyo
Reykjavik and Tokyo sit too far apart in time for a comfortable shared working day. With Tokyo 9 hours ahead of Reykjavik, an in-hours overlap doesn't exist under a standard 9am–6pm schedule on either side. Most teams that bridge these cities lean async-first: shared docs, recorded video, and a single brief live call when a decision genuinely needs both rooms. The widget below shows the time-of-day in both cities so you can find the least painful slot.
Time Difference: Reykjavik and Tokyo
Tokyo is currently 9 hours ahead of Reykjavik. The live offsets are Reykjavik UTC+0 and Tokyo UTC+9. Reykjavik does not observe daylight saving and Tokyo does not, so the offset shifts twice a year if both sides aren't already aligned.
Reykjavik does not observe DST, and Tokyo does not. When either side switches, the offset shifts by an hour. The US and Europe also change clocks on different weekends, so for one week in spring and one in autumn the usual offset between US and European cities is off by an hour. Always confirm with the live tool above when you're scheduling a recurring meeting that spans a DST changeover.
Best Times to Meet
Without an in-hours overlap, the practical options are a 7am call from Reykjavik or an 8pm call from Tokyo, depending on which side is willing to flex. Many distributed teams rotate the inconvenience so the same person isn't always taking the early or late call. For one-off conversations, a recorded async message via Loom or a written brief is usually faster than negotiating a calendar slot.
Working Hours Overlap Explained
Reykjavik operates on Atlantic/Reykjavik (currently UTC+0). Tokyo operates on Asia/Tokyo (currently UTC+9). The table below maps a standard 9:00 AM–6:00 PM day in Reykjavik to Tokyo's local time.
| Reykjavik time | Tokyo time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Tokyo wrapping up |
| 10:00 AM | 7:00 PM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 11:00 AM | 8:00 PM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 12:00 PM | 9:00 PM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 1:00 PM | 10:00 PM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 2:00 PM | 11:00 PM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 3:00 PM | 12:00 AM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 4:00 PM | 1:00 AM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 5:00 PM | 2:00 AM | Tokyo outside hours |
| 6:00 PM | 3:00 AM | Tokyo outside hours |
Tips for Scheduling Across Reykjavik and Tokyo
- There is no in-hours overlap, so rotate between an early start in Reykjavik and a late finish in Tokyo on alternating weeks.
- Neither city observes DST, so the offset between Reykjavik and Tokyo stays constant year-round.
- Watch Tokyo's holiday calendar: Golden Week (04-29 to 05-05) takes most offices offline, so plan key meetings around it.
- Send each invite with both cities' local times in the description so neither party has to do the conversion mid-day.
- With a 9-hour gap, default to async updates: a recorded video the night before is usually faster than a 30-minute call at 6am or 10pm.
Public Holidays and Working Weeks
Iceland runs a Monday–Friday working week with a standard public holiday calendar among the key closures. Japan's major holidays include Golden Week (04-29 to 05-05) and Obon (mid-August). Cross-check both calendars when scheduling recurring meetings: a 30-minute call in one city's holiday week typically gets a much lower attendance rate than the same slot a week later.