Getting to and from the Japanese Grand Prix Circuit
Suzuka is located on Ise Bay on the Island of Honshu, in south-central Japan. It lies about 320km (200mi) west of Tokyo and 80km (50mi) south west of Nagoya. Public transportation is extremely efficient and reliable in Japan, so are the roads. However, having said that, it is important to keep in mind that many signs and announcements are only made in Japanese and travel within Japan can be extremely expensive.
Unfortunately, driving in Japan is not much cheaper than other means of travel, as most of the expressways are tollroads and tolls can run into the hundreds of dollars! Also note that cars drive on the left in Japan. By road, from Tokyo, take the Tomei Expressway and exit at the Suzuka Interchange. From this exit, the circuit is clearly sign-posted, in both Japanese and English. Alternatively, take the Meihan Road and exit at the Kameyama Interchange. Follow signs to National Route 1 and the circuit is clearly sign-posted from there. Travel time is estimated at around 4-5 hours, but depends heavily on traffic. There is plenty of parking at the circuit, but it does not come cheap. Mostly it is on a first-come first-serve basis and slots fill up quickly. Due to the high costs of hotels, many local fans end up camping in their cars in the parking lot - albeit being illegal
For travellers coming from outside of Japan, it may make sense to buy a Japan Rail Pass. This allows discounted train travel within Japan and is especially useful if you are planning to go elsewhere in Japan. Tickets for the famous bullet train are easily over US$100 one-way! The nearest train station to the Suzuka Circuit is Shiroko, which is a 20-minute walk or a 15-minutes bus ride from the track. An express train from Nagoya to Shiroko takes around 40 minutes.
There are three airports that provide access to Suzuka: Narita International Airport, Kansai International Airport and Nagoya International Airport. The furthest away is Narita airport, at around 320km (200mi), but is the main airline hub for Japan, with the best international connections. From Narita Airport, take the Narita Express Train to Tokyo Station (or bus or local train, depending on your budget) - DO NOT take a taxi, as a taxi to Tokyo Station will cost you upwards of US$300!! From Tokyo Station take a train to Nagoya Station, from there Kintetsu Nagoya Line to Shiroko Station - journey time is roughly 4 hours.
Kansai airport is 150km (94mi) from Suzuka and services international routes, but primarily for Asian destinations. From the airport take the Nankai Line Train to Namba Station and then Kintetsu Line to Shiroko Station. Journey time is roughly 2 hours. The closest airport is Nagoya, which is 50km (30mi) from Suzuka, but serves the least number of international routes. There are both buses and trains from the airport to Nagoya’s city center, from there a train to the circuit takes about 40 minutes.