Los Angeles to Tokyo flight path

The shortest path on the sphere. On a flat map it looks curved; on the globe it is a straight line.

Along the shortest route, the flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo covers 5,480 miles (8,810 km) — about 10 h 40 min with no wind. It crosses the Pacific Ocean: 96% of the route is over water. Today you leave on UTC−7 and land on UTC+9.

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From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND) · LAX · HND

LAXLos Angeles

HNDTokyo

Great-circle distance: 8,810 km
Duration, no wind: 10 h 40 min
Over water: 96 %
Time difference today: +16 h

The route drawn is the theoretical one — the shortest path on the sphere. The real aircraft follows airways, avoids storms and closed airspace, and rides the wind: it can be hundreds of kilometres off.

What countries do you fly over from Los Angeles to Tokyo?

United States
Japan
Pacific Ocean

Which side of the plane to sit on to see Mount Fuji

To see Mount Fuji (3,776 m), sit on the right: it lies about 37 km from the route, ≈ 10 h 25 min into the flight.

Left window

—

Right window

San Gorgonio Mountain (3,505 m) ≈ 15 min
Bakersfield ≈ 25 min
Junipero Serra Peak (1,787 m) ≈ 40 min
Iwaki ≈ 10 h 10 min
Mito ≈ 10 h 15 min
Suginami ≈ 10 h 15 min
Utsunomiya ≈ 10 h 20 min
Mount Fuji (3,776 m) ≈ 10 h 25 min

Left and right facing forward, on the theoretical route. Times are from take-off, with no wind.

Leg by leg

LandWaterCity, with its distance from the routePeakClock change

See the full list, leg by leg

Take-off from Los Angeles International Airport
San Gorgonio Mountain, 3,505 m — on the right, 101 km away0 km · ≈ 15 min into the flight
Bakersfield, United States — on the right, 97 km away138 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
Below: Pacific Coast Ranges176 km · ≈ 25 min into the flight
Pacific Ocean — 8,430 km without land294 km · ≈ 35 min into the flight
Junipero Serra Peak, 1,787 m — on the right, 45 km away366 km · ≈ 40 min into the flight
Below: Japan8,490 km · ≈ 10 h 00 min into the flight
Iwaki, Japan — on the right, 84 km away8,640 km · ≈ 10 h 10 min into the flight
Mito, Japan — on the right, 40 km away8,710 km · ≈ 10 h 15 min into the flight
Below: Honshu8,720 km · ≈ 10 h 15 min into the flight
Land again8,720 km · ≈ 10 h 15 min into the flight
Local time below changes: UTC−7 to UTC+98,720 km · ≈ 10 h 15 min into the flight
Suginami, Japan — on the right, 35 km away8,730 km · ≈ 10 h 15 min into the flight
Utsunomiya, Japan — on the right, 89 km away8,740 km · ≈ 10 h 20 min into the flight
Landing at Tokyo Haneda International Airport8,810 km · ≈ 10 h 25 min into the flight
Mount Fuji, 3,776 m — on the right, 37 km away8,810 km · ≈ 10 h 25 min into the flight

Times assume a typical jet speed, no wind and an on-time departure. Good for orientation, not for your watch.

Which side the sun, sunrise or sunset will be on

Enter the day and take-off time. Your phone does the maths: the sun's position on every leg of the route, relative to the nose of the aircraft.

Take-offLanding

Sky: light is daytime, amber is sunrise or sunset, dark is night. Left and Right show which side the sun is on for each leg.

Follow the route offline in airplane mode

All of this on board and with no signal: with your phone in airplane mode, Modo Avión shows where you are, what's below and how long is left. GPS still works, because it only listens to satellites.

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Arriving in Tokyo

Flight time and distance

About 10 h 40 min with no wind, including half an hour of taxi, climb and descent. On a long flight the wind aloft can change that by more than an hour, differently each way.

5,480 miles (8,810 km, 4,760 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

Time zones you cross

km	Time	Zone
0 km	UTC−7	Los Angeles
8,720 km	UTC+9	Tokyo

Airspace (FIRs) along the route

Each is a control region: when the aircraft crosses the boundary, the centre talking to the pilot changes. Boundaries are approximate, from the VATSIM data set, not the official ICAO chart.

Los Angeles
Oakland
Oakland Oceanic
Tokyo Oceanic
Fukuoka

FAQ

Where does the plane fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo?

What countries do you fly over from Los Angeles to Tokyo?

It passes over or close to the United States and Japan, and crosses the Pacific Ocean. This is the theoretical route: the aircraft may deviate for wind or closed airspace.

How long is the flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo?

About 10 h 40 min with no wind, including half an hour of taxi, climb and descent. On a long flight the wind aloft can change that by more than an hour, differently each way.

How far is Los Angeles from Tokyo by plane?

5,480 miles (8,810 km, 4,760 nautical miles) along the great circle. The real flight covers a little more because it follows airways.

How much of the flight is over water?

96% of the route, about 8,460 km. The longest stretch without land is 8,430 km.

Why doesn't the plane fly in a straight line on the map?

It does fly straight — on a sphere. On a flat map the shortest path looks curved; on the globe on this page it looks like what it is.

Does GPS work in airplane mode?

Yes. GPS is a receiver: it listens to satellites and transmits nothing, so it keeps working in airplane mode. What you won't have is a map unless you downloaded it; Modo Avión carries its own.

More routes

The way back: Tokyo → Los Angeles

Look up another route

How this was calculated

The route is the great-circle arc between both airports, split into 300 points. At each point a point-in-polygon test runs against 1,102 airspace regions, 418 time zones and 1,338 physical geography regions. Countries are those with a town within 25 km of the route: in empty areas one may be missing. Cities named have over 250,000 people and lie within 110 km.