Since there is no distinction between present and future tense in Japanese, you will ultimately have to figure out which one it is on your own. Luckily, it isn't too difficult. Here are some tips. 1. Look for other words that could suggest that the action will happen in the future. Words like tomorrow, later, next year, etc are obvious indicators of a future action. 2. Look at the surrounding context. Is someone asking a question about something that has been planned for tomorrow? Are you talking about tonight's plans? Then you're probably talking in future tense. 3. Does the sentence make sense in present tense? If not, it's future. Remember that present tense in Japanese is not equal to present progressive in English (i.e. I am eating. He is walking.) In fact, Japanese present tense is the same as that of English. ケーキを食べる (if we assume that "I" is the subject) means "I eat cake" or "I will eat cake." However, if we ask someone what they want to eat later, it wouldn't make much sense to respond with "I eat cake." We would say "I will eat cake", right? It's easier than it seems. If you keep reading/listening to Japanese, I'm sure you'll quickly be able to tell the difference. :)

Japanese Time sense Predict ( Future perfect ) Example : "Darou" (だろう） Hare darou ( I should be Fine) Future Ru (Lu)（る） Assertive Sentence hare ru = It will be fine Present Example Da （だ） Assertive Sentence Hare da (It is Fine now) Desu (です） Hare desu( It is fine weather) Present Perfect Imasu (います） Hare（te) imasu = It is been Fine Now Past sentence (Passed perfect) Datta （だった） Hare datta(It was been Fine) (Passed) Desahita （でした） Hare deshita (It was Fine) Usually we can decide term of tense end up of sentence but usually helps(support) by syntax Usully in fount of word of phenomenon (Happening) sentence of showing time comes with Wa(は) Ha(wa) (は)=　adverb of Condition for example : Asu WA hare DAROU = Tomorrow shall be fine

From context. It really is very obvious.

You can tell the difference between them from the end of the sentence, for example, 「～た(～しました」 means past. BUT, there are exceptions to this... Japanese present expression sometimes means future and so on. And adverb or adverbial phrase can help with your understanding.