Jet lag from Tokyo to Mexico City: what to expect

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

Unaided, eastward shifts settle at around a day per time zone: about 9 days for this one. S6 S7

This plan targets 8 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 has you sleep 09:00–14:25, a daytime sleep in Mexico City; for your body it's midnight in Tokyo. From there the bedtime pulls earlier night by night, reaching 23:00 by night 10.

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 slow side of that.

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

Departs

08:15 Tokyo time

Lands

07:30 Mexico City time

In the air

about 14h 15m (estimate)

Light, landing day

14:25–15:25 Get outside into bright light

Keep it dim, landing day

22:25–00:25 Avoid bright light before bed

Last caffeine, landing day

17:30

First night's sleep

09:00–14:25 the morning you land

Eastbound long-hauls tend to land in the morning, so this example lands in Mexico City at 07:30, leaving Tokyo at 08:15 the day before, 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 going the other way, so you land on the same date you took off, at an earlier clock time than you left.

On board, the plan keeps you awake apart from a short nap at 18:45 Mexico City time, saving the real sleep for the night in Mexico City.

The day before you fly, the plan starts with light at 07:00–08:00 Tokyo time, after sunrise in Tokyo in January (about 06:46), so a walk outside covers it.

In January the sun is up in Mexico City from about 07:12 to 18:21, so the 14:25 light step on landing day is daylight. Outside is the easy way to get it.

What helps after flying east to Mexico City?

Going east, you want light after your body's low point and darkness before it S1. In the first days after a big shift that often means sunglasses in the morning and the early afternoon outside. Why flying east is harder goes through the mechanism.

Melatonin has its best trial results on eastward flights across five or more time zones S5. It's a timing signal, not a sleeping pill: melatonin for jet lag covers when to take it. Check with your doctor first.

And the flight home from Mexico City?

Mexico City to Tokyo is the same 9 hours the other way, westward. It's the easier direction: about 6 days unaided, and the plan targets 5. Jet lag from Mexico City to Tokyo has the details.

More routes from Tokyo

• Tokyo to London
• Tokyo to Los Angeles
• Tokyo to Istanbul
• Tokyo to New York
• Tokyo to Chicago