Tokyo & London Time Difference
🕐 Live Timezone Overlap: Tokyo & London
Tokyo and London sit 8 hours apart, which makes routine scheduling genuinely difficult. The two cities share just 1 hour of mutual working time: 5pm to 6pm in Tokyo, 9am to 10am in London. That single hour is the entire window where both teams are, in principle, at their desks. Tokyo starts the working day at 9am sharp, while London is still in the previous evening. Getting the time zone arithmetic right from the outset is essential before any invite goes out.
Time Difference: Tokyo and London
London is currently 8 hours behind Tokyo. The live offsets are Tokyo UTC+9 and London UTC+1. Tokyo does not observe daylight saving and London observes daylight saving, so the offset shifts twice a year if both sides aren't already aligned.
Tokyo runs UTC+9 year-round. Japan does not observe DST, so that offset never changes. London, by contrast, moves between UTC+0 in winter and UTC+1 in summer. This matters: when London shifts to British Summer Time each spring, the gap between Tokyo and London narrows from 9 hours to 8 hours. It widens back to 9 hours each autumn when UK clocks go back. Anyone scheduling recurring calls between the two cities must update meeting times twice a year.
Best Times to Meet
The overlap between Tokyo and London is 1 hour: 5pm to 6pm in Tokyo, 9am to 10am in London. Inside that 1-hour window, the cleanest slot is typically 9am to 9:30am London time, before London teams move into back-to-back morning commitments. One firm caveat: meetings past 5pm on a Friday are rare for Tokyo's international partners, so avoid scheduling the overlap slot on Fridays. London teams should also note that UK offices often wind down earlier on Fridays.
Working Hours Overlap Explained
Tokyo operates on Asia/Tokyo (currently UTC+9). London operates on Europe/London (currently UTC+1). The table below maps a standard 9:00 AM–6:00 PM day in Tokyo to London's local time.
| Tokyo time | London time | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 AM | 1:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 10:00 AM | 2:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 11:00 AM | 3:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 12:00 PM | 4:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 1:00 PM | 5:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 2:00 PM | 6:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 3:00 PM | 7:00 AM | London outside hours |
| 4:00 PM | 8:00 AM | London just starting |
| 5:00 PM | 9:00 AM | London in business hours |
| 6:00 PM | 10:00 AM | London in business hours |
Tips for Scheduling Across Tokyo and London
- The Tokyo-London overlap is exactly 1 hour; block 9am to 9:30am London time before diaries fill.
- Avoid scheduling the overlap slot on Fridays: Tokyo teams rarely take international calls past 5pm that day.
- When British Summer Time begins, update recurring Tokyo calls by one hour or the London team will join an hour late.
- Golden Week (29 April to 5 May) closes most Tokyo offices; notify London counterparts well in advance of that gap.
- London's May Bank Holiday and Tokyo's Golden Week overlap closely, so late April is the worst fortnight for joint availability.
Public Holidays and Working Weeks
Both cities follow a standard Monday-to-Friday working week with hours of 9am to 6pm. Tokyo's most disruptive holiday block is Golden Week, running 29 April to 5 May, when most offices close for four to five days. In London, the May Bank Holiday falls on the first Monday in May, overlapping closely with that period. Any cross-city meetings planned for late April or early May should account for both calendars, as availability in Tokyo and London can simultaneously collapse.