Is Japan ahead of us or are we behind them?

Question:

Answer:

Isn't it saying the same thing
for Japan to be ahead of the U.S.
and for U.S. to be behind Japan?

Well anyways, it depends on which part of the state you are in (since the United States has various time zones).
If you are in Hawaii, Japan is ahead about 19 hours,
whereas in the eastern coast of the United States, Japan is ahead about 13 hours.
Or in other words, Hawaii is behind Japan about 19 hours,
and the eastern coast of the U.S. is behind Japan about 13 hours.

Or furthermore in other words, Japan is 13-19 hours ahead of United States,
United States is 13-19 hours behind Japan.

Of course, time is all relative, but that just complicates everything, so we'll just leave it at that.