Best Meeting Times Between US and Japan Teams (2026)
8 AM Tokyo is 4 PM in Los Angeles the day before. West Coast afternoon windows, the East Coast dead zone, and why the Philippines slot is an hour off. -
Best overlap: 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM in Chicago is 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Wellington.
Book within 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM Chicago time (8:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Wellington) and both teams will be at work. Wellington is 17 hours ahead of Chicago, so the practical overlap is about 3 hours — generous enough for meetings, tight enough to be worth booking ahead. Mind the calendar: when you pick a time, Wellington will be on the next day compared with Chicago.
| Local time | 12am | 1am | 2am | 3am | 4am | 5am | 6am | 7am | 8am | 9am | 10am | 11am | 12pm | 1pm | 2pm | 3pm | 4pm | 5pm | 6pm | 7pm | 8pm | 9pm | 10pm | 11pm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago America/Chicago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wellington Pacific/Auckland |
8 AM Tokyo is 4 PM in Los Angeles the day before. West Coast afternoon windows, the East Coast dead zone, and why the Philippines slot is an hour off. -
London to New York is five hours apart, except for the five weeks a year when it isn't. Exact overlap windows for every US zone, the 2026 DST mismatch dates, and where to put the recurring sync. -
The Philippines sits 12 to 16 hours ahead of the US and never changes its clocks. Exact overlap windows for every US coast, the tomorrow problem, and a rotation rule that works for product and BPO teams. -