JST to EST Converter (Japan Time to Eastern Time)

Mid-January 2026: EST is 14 hours behind JST. Mid-July 2026: EDT is 13 hours behind JST.

When it is morning in Tokyo, it is the previous evening in New York. Japan Standard Time is UTC+9 all year round, while Eastern Time moves between UTC−05:00 and UTC−04:00, so the answer from Japan to the US East Coast is a time 14 hours earlier in winter and 13 hours earlier in summer.

This direction suits people in Japan who are planning a call with an American office, checking the opening of a US event or working out when a flight to New York lands. The converter also gives the previous date, which is the part that is easiest to get wrong.

How to use this tool

1. Pick a date and time in JST. The date matters when daylight saving time is in force.
2. Read the matching time in EST, with both UTC offsets.
3. Use "Use current time" for now, or the tables below for a quick look.

Formula

EST time = JST time − (JST UTC offset) + (EST UTC offset)

The converter looks up both UTC offsets for the actual instant in the saved IANA time zone rules, so daylight saving changes are included automatically.

Example

Worked with the saved rules:

9:00 AM JST on March 2, 2026 = 7:00 PM EST (previous day)

6:30 PM JST on August 3, 2026 = 5:30 AM EDT

Time difference through the year

The difference depends on the date when either place moves its clocks. These are the offsets on two reference days, from the saved IANA rules:

Clock changes in 2026

Between these dates the difference shifts by the size of the change.

JST to EST time table

Each hour in Japan Standard Time with the matching Eastern Time time in winter and summer (reference days in January and July).

EST to JST time table

Each hour in Eastern Time with the matching Japan Standard Time time in winter and summer (reference days in January and July).

Hours that work in both places

Hours (on the January reference day) that fall between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM in both JST and EST:

Check the summer column above when one of the places is on daylight saving time.

Flying from Japan to New York

Flights from Tokyo to New York leave in the evening or afternoon and land the same calendar day, because the clock goes backward as you cross the date line. A departure at 5:00 p.m. from Tokyo lands around 4:00 p.m. on the same day after a flight of about 13 hours; the arrival time on the ticket is local time.

Hotels and car services in the New York area use local time. Convert your own schedule before you book a pickup, and expect to feel the shift for several days, since the Japanese body clock is nearly half a day away.

Sending messages to the US from a Japanese office

A message sent at 9:00 a.m. in Tokyo arrives at 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. on the previous date in New York, depending on the season, so American colleagues will usually read it the next morning. Their reply then reaches Tokyo in the late evening, which makes one full exchange per day the realistic pace.

Japanese companies that run a morning meeting at 9 a.m. often invite American partners to a call in the evening hours of the day before. Write the date for both cities to avoid a day-off error.