Author:Aura RuggeriPublished: July 17, 2022 (Updated: October 11, 2023)
This article was fact checked and it's 100% helpful.
If you’re traveling from California for a trip to Japan, you may be wondering how long it will take for you to arrive. In this article, we’ll look at how long it would take for you to get there.
There are several factors to consider when you’re traveling to Japan. If you’re traveling from California, you may consider which airport you will depart from and which airport you plan to arrive at.
We’ll look at how long a flight from the Californian international airports to find out how long it will take you to reach Japan and how many changeovers you’ll have included in your journey (see also ‘How Long is a Flight from New York to Japan?‘).
Fresno Yosemite International Airport
Fresno offers multiple flights from their airport, which include changeovers, to Japan. A flight to Tokyo can take up to over fifteen hours, including one change.
A flight to Osaka has two changes, with a flight time of over eighteen hours. A flight to Sapporo also includes two changes and takes over nineteen hours.
Okinawa features two changeovers and takes nearly twenty-one hours to reach the area. The last stop is Kagoshima, which includes two changeovers, and is over twenty-one hours long.
Los Angeles International Airport
To travel from Los Angeles International, you could get a non-stop flight to Tokyo which would take eleven hours and ten minutes to arrive.
Osaka involves one changeover and is a thirteen-hour and forty-minute journey. Okinawa also includes one change and is nearly sixteen hours long.
Nagoya also has one change but is shorter than Okinawa and is almost fourteen hours long. Traveling to Fukuoka from LAX will take fourteen hours and twenty minutes, but you will have to change over once.
Oakland International Airport
Flying from Oakland will involve stopping for one changeover on the way to Tokyo and will take fourteen hours to arrive.
The journey to Osaka is nineteen hours and ten minutes long, and you will have to change over twice. Nagoya includes two changeovers, and your flight would be nineteen hours and forty-five minutes long.
Nagasaki would also include two changes and would take you twenty hours and ten minutes to arrive. The lengthiest trip would be to Miyazaki, which is twenty minutes longer than Nagasaki and features two changeovers.
Ontario International Airport
Flights from Ontario vary from having one changeover to two. Flights with one change are a flight to Tokyo which takes almost sixteen hours, and Osaka, which takes just over seventeen hours.
If there are two changes, these will be to Okinawa, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto. These flights are nineteen and a half hours, twenty hours and fifteen minutes, and twenty hours and twenty minutes, respectively.
Palm Springs International Airport
The shortest flight from Palm Springs involves one changeover, a nearly fourteen-hour flight to Tokyo. All of their other flights have two changes, with Osaka being the fastest journey, with sixteen hours and forty-five minutes to get there.
Nagoya is the next, with a flight of seventeen and a half hours. Okinawa and Sapporo are eighteen hours, but Sapporo will take thirty-five minutes longer to arrive than if you were to go to Okinawa.
Sacramento International Airport
Flights to Tokyo from Sacramento will involve one changeover and take twelve hours and forty-five minutes to arrive there. Another single changeover, a flight to Osaka will take you just over seventeen hours.
Nagoya, which has two changes, takes less time and will save you five minutes on your journey. A flight to Fukuoka is almost eighteen hours, and a flight to Okinawa is eighteen and a half.
San Bernardino International Airport
A flight to San Bernardino will involve one changeover if you want to travel to Tokyo or Osaka. These flights are nearly sixteen hours or just over seventeen hours respectively.
A flight to Okinawa, Nagasaki, or Kumamoto will involve two changeovers. It will take you just over nineteen and a half hours or nearing twenty and a half hours, respectively.
San Diego International Airport
With one changeover from San Diego to Tokyo and Osaka, you can expect a thirteen and a half hour journey to Tokyo and over sixteen and a half hours to Osaka.
Flights to Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Okinawa are all over seventeen hours, with the flight to Okinawa being closer to eighteen hours.
San Francisco International Airport
You can take a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Tokyo, which will take you ten hours and thirty-five minutes to arrive. All other flights from San Francisco involve one changeover, the shortest being to Osaka, at thirteen hours and forty-five minutes.
Nagoya is only ten minutes longer than the flight to Osaka. Fukuoka takes around fourteen and a half hours, and Okinawa will take you fifteen hours to arrive.
San Jose International Airport
A flight to Tokyo from San Jose will take just over fourteen hours and involve one changeover, while a flight to Osaka has the same number of changes but will take seventeen hours and fifteen minutes.
Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Okinawa are longer journeys with two changeovers, taking just over eighteen hours for Nagoya, nearly nineteen to Fukuoka, and almost twenty-one hours to Okinawa.
Santa Ana – John Wayne International Airport
Flights from Santa Ana to Tokyo and Osaka will involve one changeover and will take nearly fourteen and a half hours and eighteen hours, respectively.
Flights to Sapporo, Miyazaki, and Kumamoto will take just over eighteen and a half hours, nineteen hours, and nearly nineteen and a half, respectively.
Final Thoughts
Flight times will typically vary, with most flights involving at least one or two changeovers which can add to the timeframe. If you want to get to Japan quickly, I recommend choosing a non-stop flight from San Francisco or LAX.
You should also consider which airport you plan to arrive at as some flights will take longer based on the distance to Japan (see also ‘How Big Is Japan Compared To The US?‘). Ultimately, your flight could take ten hours or over twenty. It all depends on how long your change will be if you have them.
Hi, I’m Aura Ruggeri and I want to make sure that no one makes the same mistake that I did.
So, if you’re planning a trip to Japan anytime soon, do exactly that - plan! Read up on all of the amazing things to do here to make the most of your time. I can bet that you’ll still return home feeling like you could’ve explored much more.
