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Saitama, Japan

Saitama follows Japan Standard Time, UTC+9, throughout the year. Clocks do not change seasonally, so the prefecture always has the same local time as Tokyo and every other part of Japan.

Saitama, Japan

Friday, 4 September 2026

UTC+9 · Asia/Tokyo

Time and sun data for Saitama — the largest city of Saitama

The sun in Saitama

Sunrise 05:16 Solar noon 11:42 Sunset 18:08 Daylight 12 h 51 min Night 11 h 09 min Civil twilight 04:50 – 18:34

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Current time in Saitama, Japan

The displayed local time applies across Saitama Prefecture, including Saitama City, Kawaguchi, Kawagoe, Tokorozawa, and Koshigaya. There is no internal time-zone boundary to consider when travelling between these places.

Japan does not observe daylight saving time. That makes conversions predictable: the offset from Coordinated Universal Time remains nine hours ahead in every season. When arranging a call, train journey, or appointment, you do not need to check whether the clocks recently moved.

Saitama keeps time the uncomplicated way: one clock setting, all year, and no springtime hunt for the missing hour.

Time zone and regional setting

Saitama lies immediately north of Tokyo in the Kanto region. Its close connection with the capital means that many daily schedules are shaped by commuting, railway timetables, and business hours shared across the wider metropolitan area. None of that creates a time difference: crossing from Tokyo into Saitama leaves your clock unchanged.

Useful points to remember include: The standard abbreviation is JST. The UTC offset is UTC+9. Daylight saving time is not used. The whole prefecture observes the same civil time. Tokyo and Saitama are always synchronized.

For an international comparison, start with UTC and add nine hours. Around midnight, remember that the calendar date in Saitama may already be one day ahead of locations farther west.

Largest cities and daylight

Saitama City is the prefectural capital and its principal urban center. Other large cities include Kawaguchi, Kawagoe, Tokorozawa, and Koshigaya. They share one time zone, but sunrise can differ slightly from place to place because each city occupies a different position.

Sunrise does not occur at one fixed clock time. It shifts with the season, becoming earlier during the approach to summer and later during the approach to winter. Local horizon conditions also matter: buildings, hills, trees, and weather can delay the moment when the sun becomes visible even though the calculated sunrise has occurred.

Saitama is inland, so there is no open ocean horizon within the prefecture. Eastern districts generally meet dawn a little before western districts, while the mountainous western side may experience more noticeable horizon effects. For photography or an early departure, use a forecast calculated for the specific city rather than a prefecture-wide estimate.

Questions and answers
Is Saitama in the same time zone as Tokyo?
Yes. Both use Japan Standard Time, so there is no time difference.
Does Saitama change its clocks for summer?
No. The UTC+9 offset remains in place throughout the year.
Why does the sunrise time change if the time zone does not?
The time zone is a civil clock system. Sunrise changes because Earth’s position relative to the sun varies through the seasons, and local geography affects visibility.

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