[lmm]

He says he's only a couple hundred miles from Japan, not that the flight is a couple hundred miles. He could be in Taiwan and flying to Naha (there are evening flights on that route).

Or, more intriguingly, he could be a supporter of Okinawan independence who doesn't acknowledge Okinawa as part of Japan, in which case he might also regard Okinawa as being in the Seibu Hyojunji timezone rather than Japan Standard Time.