# Given that earth is rounded, why there is no quick flights from Japan to America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282 "2012-01-31T06:30:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tota](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b3f665/32.png) [@Tota](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tota)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/1 "2012-01-31T06:30:38Z")
Hi All, Here is a question that I couldn’t find an answer to yet !! Please help !! 😕 Given that earth is rounded, why there is no quick flights from Japan to America? _From the east coast of Japan to the west coast of America_ without the need to travel around the whole world ? Cheers, ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/2 "2012-01-31T06:37:21Z")
What, ~850 km/h isn’t quick enough for you? 🙂 Given that the Pacific Ocean is eight or ten thousand kilometres wide, I’d say we’re doing pretty good to get there in under a day. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/3 "2012-01-31T06:37:50Z")
There are, but you need to fly across the Pacific Ocean, which is a really large piece of water. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/4 "2012-01-31T06:50:30Z")
> [@Tota](#): > > _From the east coast of Japan to the west coast of America_ without the need to travel around the whole world ? How did you think they were doing it? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/5 "2012-01-31T07:01:08Z")
My one trip between Japan and the U.S. was between Osaka and Detroit. With that, the shortest route is via Alaska, and that’s basically because the Earth is round. (I’ve also flown between Chicago and Seoul – the shortest route for that goes north of Alaska, over Siberia and northeastern China, and to the west of North Korea, since for some reason we avoided flying over North Korea. In that case, the only bit of the Pacific Ocean that we flew over was the northern part of the Yellow Sea.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/6 "2012-01-31T07:18:03Z")
[Here’s a flight path from LAX (Los Angeles) to NRT (Tokyo)](http://flights.expedia.com/Flights_tfaOLAX_DNRT.htm). That’s about as direct as you’re going to get. It doesn’t require going around the whole world, and the flight time is about 11 hours. I’ve been on longer flights than that. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/7 "2012-01-31T07:18:05Z")
> [@Tota](#): > > _From the east coast of Japan to the west coast of America_ without the need to travel around the whole world ? “ **_From the east coast of Japan to the west coast of America_…** ” They are. “ **…without the need to travel around the whole world** ”… Huh?? Why go around the long way? I think OP might be thinking flights go around the other way… but then why would anyone think that? Me confused. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/8 "2012-01-31T07:29:44Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > I think OP might be thinking flights go around the other way… but then why would anyone think that? Me confused. He (or she) may be confused about the great circle route. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/9 "2012-01-31T09:34:42Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > … I’ve also flown between Chicago and Seoul – the shortest route for that goes north of Alaska, over Siberia and northeastern China, and to the west of North Korea, since for some reason we avoided flying over North Korea… That routing was contraindicated 29 years ago. I had a friend on [Flight KAL 007](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007). ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/10 "2012-01-31T11:25:25Z")
Yeah, I clearly remember. I’m sorry to hear that you lost your friend. That was awful and what crazy fucking bastards they were. The flights now, I believe, fly slightly lower route over Bering Sea and Northeastern Japan from what I remember flying to Tokyo and Seoul. I don’t know why but I hate flying over Bering Sea except I sometimes get to see Aurora Borealis very up close. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/11 "2012-01-31T14:03:49Z")
But KAL 007 was shot down by the Soviet Union after flying over Soviet territory, not by North Korea. It didn’t go near North Korea. Now the Soviet Union no longer exists, and the plane that I was on last year flew along a flight path that was at least 1,000 kilometres northwest of the path by KAL 007, from north of Alaska to near the northwest corner of North Korea, and hence for a long time over eastern Siberia and Manchuria. These days Russia does not shoot down South Korean planes flying over Russia, and China allows them too, but apparently North Korea does object to them, so we diverged slightly from a straight line to fly around North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/12 "2012-01-31T14:27:23Z")
FWIW, [a flight path map](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/KAL007.svg). And [this one](http://www.flickr.com/photos/abickel/2574685467/sizes/l/in/photostream/). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/13 "2012-01-31T14:30:14Z")
I am baffled by the OP: is he imagining going **through** the earth somehow? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/14 "2012-01-31T14:54:28Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > That routing was contraindicated 29 years ago. I had a friend on [Flight KAL 007](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007). Ugh. Me too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/15 "2012-01-31T17:22:49Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > FWIW, [a flight path map](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/KAL007.svg). Jesus Christ!! Whats wrong with that Wikipedia pic? It was just a picture, but it turned my computer into a useless paperweight. I couldn’t even get to task manager to kill it. I had to manually power off my computer, then when it came back up, Firefox restored the last session and I went through the whole thing again. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/16 "2012-01-31T17:28:16Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > Jesus Christ!! Whats wrong with that Wikipedia pic? It was just a picture, but it turned my computer into a useless paperweight. I couldn’t even get to task manager to kill it. I had to manually power off my computer, then when it came back up, Firefox restored the last session and I went through the whole thing again. :mad: What? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/17 "2012-01-31T17:35:47Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > Jesus Christ!! Whats wrong with that Wikipedia pic? It was just a picture, but it turned my computer into a useless paperweight. I couldn’t even get to task manager to kill it. I had to manually power off my computer, then when it came back up, Firefox restored the last session and I went through the whole thing again. :mad: It’s noticeably slowing my firefox, too (although not to the crashing point). Probably a heavyweight SVG renderer and a complex SVG. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/18 "2012-01-31T17:48:46Z")
> [@Tota](#): > > Given that earth is rounded, why there is no quick flights from Japan to America? _From the east coast of Japan to the west coast of America_ without the need to travel around the whole world ? The shortest distance between Tokyo and Los Angeles is 5,400 miles /8,800 kilometres. That’s a long way. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/19 "2012-01-31T17:53:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He (or she) may be confused about the great circle route. Here’s a [Google Earth plot](http://i40.tinypic.com/108fo8y.png) looking straight down on the great circle route from LA to Tokyo. You can’t get any shorter than that without boring through the Earth as already noted upthread. The distance is almost 5500 miles (about a quarter of the way around the Earth). I think people forget (or don’t realize) how freaking huge the Pacific is, thinking that flying to Japan is like flying to London. It’s fun to center Google Earth on Bora Bora and zoom out so you see the entire world. You can’t really see any continents, just the edges of North America, Australia and Antarctica. It looks like some kind of Waterworld. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282/20 "2012-01-31T17:56:12Z")
What was the earth before they rounded it? 1.4 earths? .6 of an earth? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/given-that-earth-is-rounded-why-there-is-no-quick-flights-from-japan-to-america/611282.md?page=2)