Distance from Istanbul to Tokyo
The great-circle distance between Istanbul, Türkiye and Tokyo, Japan is 8,946 km (5,559 mi · 4,831 nmi) — the shortest possible route over the Earth's surface, the path aircraft approximately follow.
The numbers
- Great-circle distance
- 8,946 km · 5,559 mi · 4,831 nmi
- Initial bearing Istanbul → Tokyo
- 50° (NE)
- Initial bearing Tokyo → Istanbul
- 314° (NW)
- Nonstop flight (rough estimate)
- ≈ 11 h 11 min
- Time zones
- Istanbul UTC+03:00 · Tokyo UTC+09:00 (+6 h)
- Sunrise gap today
- 432 min — the sun rises later in Istanbul
Flight time is a cruise-speed approximation (no routing/wind); driving distance depends on roads and is typically 20–40% longer than great-circle.
The two cities
- Istanbul
- 41.0138, 28.9497
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 03:07 UTC / 17:14 UTC
- Tokyo
- 35.6895, 139.6917
- Sunrise / sunset today
- 19:55 UTC / 09:41 UTC
Open in the distance calculator Find the halfway point
Distances here are straight-line (great-circle). Road routes typically run 1.2–1.4× longer — here's why, with the visual.