Changing the Timezone to Japan Standard Time (JST) on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Server

Checking and Changing the Timezone

This article explains how to check the current timezone on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Server and how to change it to Japan Standard Time (JST).

How to Check the Current Timezone

Command to Check the Timezone
timedatectl

Example Output of the Timezone Check Command
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$ timedatectl
               Local time: Sun 2026-07-19 08:06:50 UTC
           Universal time: Sun 2026-07-19 08:06:50 UTC
                 RTC time: Sun 2026-07-19 08:06:50
                Time zone: Etc/UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$

How to Change the Timezone to Japan (JST)

Command to Change the Timezone to Japan (JST)
sudo timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Tokyo

Example of Changing the Timezone to Japan (JST)
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$ sudo timedatectl set-timezone Asia/Tokyo
[sudo: authenticate] Password:
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$ date
Sun Jul 19 05:10:05 PM JST 2026
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$ timedatectl
               Local time: Sun 2026-07-19 17:10:13 JST
           Universal time: Sun 2026-07-19 08:10:13 UTC
                 RTC time: Sun 2026-07-19 08:10:13
                Time zone: Asia/Tokyo (JST, +0900)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$ date
Sun Jul 19 05:10:14 PM JST 2026
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$

Listing Available Timezones

Example of Listing Available Timezones
kazu@ubuntu2604:~$ timedatectl list-timezones
Africa/Abidjan
Africa/Accra
Africa/Addis_Ababa
Africa/Algiers
Africa/Asmara
Africa/Bamako
Africa/Bangui
Africa/Banjul

/ snip /