What is the time difference between Chicago and Tokyo?

Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Chicago. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.

When is the best time to call Tokyo from Chicago?

There is no time inside normal working hours in both cities, so someone has to take the call outside them. The nearest workable windows are listed above — pick one and alternate who gets the awkward slot.

Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Chicago runs on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

Does Tokyo observe daylight saving time?

No. Tokyo stays on UTC+9 all year, so its clocks never move.

If it is midday in Chicago, what time is it in Tokyo?

It is 02:00 in Tokyo, and already the following day. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.

Which time zones do Chicago and Tokyo use?

Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT), and Tokyo uses Asia/Tokyo, currently UTC+9. Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.

Convert Chicago time to Tokyo time

Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Chicago right now, so midday in Chicago lands in the small hours in Tokyo.

Convert a time

From

Date

Time

Converted time

—

The converter needs JavaScript to run. Everything below — offsets, daylight saving dates and the hour-by-hour table — is part of the page and works without it.

Hour by hour

Every hour of a day in Chicago, and what the clock reads in Tokyo at that same moment.

Chicago	Tokyo
00:00	14:00
01:00	15:00
02:00	16:00
03:00	17:00
04:00	18:00
05:00	19:00
06:00	20:00
07:00	21:00
08:00	22:00
09:00	23:00
10:00	00:00next day
11:00	01:00next day
12:00	02:00next day
13:00	03:00next day
14:00	04:00next day
15:00	05:00next day
16:00	06:00next day
17:00	07:00next day
18:00	08:00next day
19:00	09:00next day
20:00	10:00next day
21:00	11:00next day
22:00	12:00next day
23:00	13:00next day

Daylight saving time

Chicago changes its clocks; Tokyo does not. The difference between them therefore shifts by an hour twice a year.

Chicago

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-6
Daylight: UTC-5
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

Tokyo

Does not observe daylight saving time

Standard: UTC+9

When you can actually talk

A standard working day in Chicago and one in Tokyo do not overlap at all. Any call between them is early for one side or late for the other.

Chicago 19:00–04:00Tokyo 09:00–18:00
Chicago 09:00–18:00Tokyo 23:00–08:00

Reference

The underlying data, in case you need to put it in a calendar invitation or a configuration file.

	Chicago	Tokyo
IANA zone	America/Chicago	Asia/Tokyo
Abbreviation	CDT	UTC+9
Standard offset	UTC-6	UTC+9
Daylight offset	UTC-5	—
Clock changes this year	2	0
Country	United States	Japan

Example, not the current time. Live times appear once the page loads.

Common questions

What is the time difference between Chicago and Tokyo?: Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of Chicago. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.
When is the best time to call Tokyo from Chicago?: There is no time inside normal working hours in both cities, so someone has to take the call outside them. The nearest workable windows are listed above — pick one and alternate who gets the awkward slot.
Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Chicago runs on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
Does Tokyo observe daylight saving time?: No. Tokyo stays on UTC+9 all year, so its clocks never move.
If it is midday in Chicago, what time is it in Tokyo?: It is 02:00 in Tokyo, and already the following day. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.
Which time zones do Chicago and Tokyo use?: Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT), and Tokyo uses Asia/Tokyo, currently UTC+9. Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.