Jet lag from Mexico City to Tokyo: what to expect

Worked out by the Delagged plan engine · Last reviewed

Fly Mexico City to Tokyo and local time runs 9 hours behind your body. Land at 16:15 and your body still thinks it's 01:15 in Mexico City. That's the middle of your body's night. At 23:00 in Tokyo, it's 08:00 for you.

That's a westward shift: your clock has to move later, which is the way it drifts on its own S1. Expect to be sleepy early in the evening for the first few days, and awake before your alarm S1.

How long does jet lag last from Mexico City to Tokyo?

Unaided, westward shifts settle somewhat faster than a day per time zone: about 6 days for this one. S6 S7

This plan targets 5 days.

That's what the plan aims at, not a promise — bodies vary.

For this trip that's 1 day sooner than the unaided estimate, on the effort level that fits around a working day.

On night one the plan's bedtime is 17:45, early by Tokyo's clock, and it moves later night by night, reaching 23:00 by night 6.

Studies of aircrew point the same way: after large shifts, westward adaptation runs roughly 50% faster than eastward S6 S8. This trip is on the quick side of that.

What does the plan say for a typical Mexico City to Tokyo flight?

Departs
11:00 Mexico City time
Lands
16:15 Tokyo time +1 day
In the air
about 14h 15m (estimate)
Light, landing day
16:45–17:45 Seek bright light (delay shift)
Last caffeine, landing day
09:45 on the plane
Last caffeine, first full day
13:00
First night's sleep
17:45–00:10

Westbound flights often go by day, so this example leaves Mexico City at 11:00 and lands in Tokyo at 16:15 in the afternoon, after about 14h 15m in the air.

The flight time is our estimate for a nonstop from the distance, and the trip is set in January. It's the default traveler from the calculator: usually asleep 23:00 to 07:00, no melatonin, Real Life effort.

You cross the date line, and it costs you a calendar day: leave on a Wednesday, land on Thursday, though the flight itself is under 15 hours.

On board, the plan keeps you awake apart from a short nap at 04:00 Tokyo time, saving the real sleep for the night in Tokyo.

The day before you fly, the plan keeps your morning dim, 07:00–09:00 Mexico City time, and the sun is up in Mexico City by about 07:12 in January, so plan on sunglasses for the commute.

On landing day your last coffee comes on the plane, at 09:45 Tokyo time, and the plan has none between landing and your first night's sleep. From 00:10, when you wake from that first sleep, it allows it again, until 13:00.

January days are short in Tokyo: about 10 hours of daylight. The sun sets in Tokyo at about 16:52 in January, partway through the 16:45 light step on landing day, so start it outside.

What helps after flying west to Tokyo?

Going west, you want light before your body's low point, which usually means bright light in the evening and staying up a little later S1. Bright light first thing in the morning works against you. East vs west explains why this direction is the easier one.

On a shift this size, starting before you fly pays off. The Frontiers review describes moving bedtime 30 to 60 minutes later each day for 3 to 4 days before a westward trip S1. The plan's version is one night: bed at 00:00 the night before you fly, an hour later than usual.

And the flight home from Tokyo?

Tokyo to Mexico City is the same 9 hours the other way, eastward. It's the harder direction: about 9 days unaided, and the plan targets 8. Jet lag from Tokyo to Mexico City has the details.

More routes from Mexico City

Sources

Numbered from the site-wide source registry — every Delagged page uses the same numbering.

  • S1 Roach GD, Sargent C. Interventions to Minimize Jet Lag After Westward and Eastward Flight. Frontiers in Physiology, 2019;10:927. doi:10.3389/fphys.2019.00927
  • S6 Waterhouse J, Reilly T, Atkinson G, Edwards B. Jet lag: trends and coping strategies. The Lancet, 2007;369:1117–29. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60529-7
  • S7 Eastman CI, Burgess HJ. How to travel the world without jet lag. Sleep Medicine Clinics, 2009;4:241–55. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2009.02.006
  • S8 Samel A, et al. Aircrew adaptation after transmeridian flights, 1995. As cited in Waterhouse et al., The Lancet 2007 (S6). Full text Cited via S6.