Adam Rosales tells us about his experience attending the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix, and why he’s already planning his return to Suzuka Circuit this year.
The Suzuka circuit is one of those on the current F1 calendar that everybody wants to visit. The epic championship battles between Senna and Prost we’ve all seen in the documentaries, the wet races, the crazy speeds of the first sector and the legendary 130R.
Planning
The late-season timing right before the United States Grand Prix in Austin never really worked for me, but last year F1 shifted the race to the spring. This inspired some flight searching and I came across a solid deal with Korean Air booked via Delta using SkyMiles. The dates lined up perfectly for a week in Japan that included the Japanese Grand Prix. The flight deal was from Los Angeles to Tokyo on points, so I booked a separate flight from my home in Austin to Los Angeles. The total round trip cost was 72,000 Skymiles and $307 USD. Once booked, I was able to get myself a ticket for Grandstand B2 then start planning the details of how I was going to get to Suzuka. It can be a bit overwhelming when you first start looking, but the Japanese travel guide on F1Destinations plus useful information on the Suzuka Circuit website made it fairly easy.
Nagoya
The closest major city to Suzuka is Nagoya, which the third most populous city in Japan. You’ll find most other fans will be staying here and it’s fairly easy to find a hotel or airbnb that is walking distance from a train station. You can get to Nagoya from Tokyo by train or plane, both similarly priced and travel time. I opted for flying to experience some domestic J class flights, which was quite a fun experience. A meal and lay flat seat on a 1 hour flight in a wide-body jet for $145? Why not experience that? The highlight was boarding only 15 minutes before departure. Japanese efficiency is fantastic!
Nagoya has plenty of good restaurants and caters to tourists quite well. I hosted a meetup and we had about 30 people at a bar called Shooters that was really fun. A small group of us ended up hanging out all weekend, and we’ve met up at other races since then. None of us were from Japan, which shows that it’s fairly welcoming and easy to visit and explore.
Nagoya to Suzuka Circuit
Getting from Nagoya to the circuit can be the overwhelming part of the planning process. The closest train station, which is about a 20 minute walk to the circuit, is Suzuka Circuit Inō Station but it gets very crowded and has less trains than Shiroko Station. Shiroko is the easier of the two since it’s served by regular trains from Nagoya departing every 20-30 minutes. You can reserve seats and buy tickets online but the seat reservations do fill up. If you keep checking, you can often find a single seat or two become available at the last moment, provided you are flexible. Seat reservations are not required but it can help to rest during the busy weekend. From Shiroko station to the circuit, there are organized shuttle buses. It can get very crowded and you can wait up to an hour at peak times. Arriving early is a good idea to streamline your travel.
Carry some cash for this too, as you’ll need to pay for the shuttle bus when you arrive at the circuit (about 400 yen). Cards were accepted, but the line was long. At the end of the day, there can be up to a two hour wait at peak times to get the shuttle bus from the circuit to Shiroko station. It’s best to leave right away or wait it out for a while. I used this route for Friday’s practice to figure out the process and save some money. It’s the cheapest way to get to Suzuka Circuit. Some people enjoy the hour-long walk back to Shiroko and opt for that instead of waiting in the line.
Express Buses
The circuit also organizes express shuttle buses from a list of specific cities, such as Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto. You can book these on the Suzuka circuit site and prices vary but they’re typically about $50-70 USD return each day. I opted to book the express bus from Nagoya station on Saturday and Sunday, which cost $55 USD each day. The instructions for the pickup location at Nagoya station were a bit vague but fairly easy to find. Give yourself some extra time to find the location for this, as you don’t want to miss your scheduled departure. Once you arrive, you simply check in at a small table that is signposted and they will tell you which line to get in. As your departure time approaches, your group is escorted to a bus.
The drive took about an hour. On Sunday, our driver stopped at a rest area for a break and I was able to get some snacks at a Lawson’s convenience store. The arrival location at the circuit is in an adjacent lot to the Shiroko shuttle buses. You pretty much follow the same walking path for about 15 minutes to enter or leave the circuit. There are people on hand to direct you and the whole process is very easy and stress free. The organized buses were definitely not cheap but worth it for the hassle-free experience.
Trackside at Suzuka
Suzuka circuit operates as a theme park on most days so the layout and amenities are pretty solid compared to other traditional circuits that tend to have a lot of temporary facilities. Suzuka has plenty of wide open, paved walking paths to get around. There is some elevation but nothing crazy like Spa or Turn 1 at COTA. There are food stalls, restaurants, merchandise stores as well as pop up tents for food vendors around the circuit grounds. Once you venture away from the main plaza area, you’ll find some paths are gravel but it’s fairly smooth to get around. The permanent grandstands have some indoor bathrooms and food and drink vendors underneath. The circuit offers some very unique merchandise, such as themed snacks, model cars and some Suzuka circuit branded items like seat pads, umbrellas and toys that make fantastic gifts.
Grandstand B2
I was able to buy myself a ticket for Grandstand B2 for €649 via P1 Travel. Grandstand B is on the outside of Turn 1. The lower level is B1 and the upper level is B2. The views here offer a fantastic panorama. You can see the cars from just after the starting line and up through the S Turns. Seeing the cars enter Turn 1 at speed is quite the treat and really cool to see the differences in how each team’s car can push through the lateral loads of the first sector. B2 has a view that is above the fences, compared to B1 that looks through the fence.
Grandstand B2 is about a 10-15 minute walk from the main grandstand area. There are a few food vendors around the Turn 1 area. Below the grandstand there were a couple of stands and some other options were available if you kept walking past the section and behind Grandstand C, which is further towards the S turns. This path did get a bit crowded as it narrows a bit but was still easy to get through to see the cars taking the S turns during practice. You’ll also encounter a small memorial area at the Dunlop curve with photos and gifts left for Jules Bianchi, as well as Daijiro Kato, who passed away here during the 2003 MotoGP race.
Free Friday
I would encourage everyone to explore the circuit on Friday (when there is free seating in almost all the grandstands) to see the cars at the various points throughout the circuit. It’s likely worth splitting half of the circuit for each practice session, I was surprised how much walking there was at this circuit as it’s fairly spread out. Seeing cars through 130R and the final chicane are not too distant and definitely worth the trip. People are friendly, polite and very energetic. There were a ton of Japanese fans who all seemed like superfans of the various drivers on the grid. Like the one I found with Mexican flags painted on his cheeks, a flag worn as a cape and Red Bull merch.
Food & Drink at Suzuka
Suzuka allows you to enter with your own food and drink. It doesn’t hurt to pack some of your own in case the lines are long between sessions. I was able to enter with my own beer as well but the cans of Heineken inside were only about 500 yen each ($3.30 USD). Stopping at a 7/11 or Lawson’s convenience store in the morning is a good idea to stock up for the day. I had some wagyu beef with potatoes near Grandstand C for about 1800 yen ($12 USD) that tasted great and was made to order. I would encourage others to be adventurous and try some of the food around the circuit. There’s a wide variety and it’s pretty interesting without the crazy overpricing that you can encounter at some other circuits on the calendar. Credit cards (tap to pay) are accepted everywhere but it doesn’t hurt to have some cash as a backup, in case of any potential issue with your cards.
Trackside Organization at Suzuka
This was my second trip to Japan and one of the things that stands out to me is how calm and respectful people are in crowds. The circuit organization is very well done. Lines can be a bit slow during peak times for things like food or the shuttles but they remain well organized. There are some shuttles from the main grandstand area to the west area that can help with some of the walking. Aside from merch and gifts, some shops around the circuit also offer some basic items like batteries or sunscreen. Circuit staff are plentiful and helpful throughout the event and there is signposting in both Japanese and English.
The event wasn’t as “Japanese” as I thought it would be and was quite welcoming to foreigners. The staff would try to understand my broken phrases or google translate messages and would genuinely try to help when I would order food or ask for directions. I feel like Suzuka is one of the most organized circuits on the calendar. Another example of the local fans being orderly and respectful was at the Fan Forum stage, where everyone sat quietly on the ground with their legs crossed like school children. It seems like this is done so the people behind or around them can see and hear the people on stage speaking. I wish more groups of fans were like this!
Visiting Japan
Japan is a special place to visit. It just feels different. It’s definitely a bit western in the major cities but there are still some traditions within the everyday culture that are hard to describe. A majority of the people put a lot of effort into their jobs. For example, if somebody needs to check your ticket for a train, they may gesture their hand across all the details as they read it to verify you are where you are supposed to be, followed by a gracious but respectful “arigato” and a smile to see you on your way.
Tokyo is a fun city to explore and getting around is fairly easy. If you have an iPhone, you can add a Suica card for transit. It’s easy to top up the card and use it it via Apple Pay to board any train in the Tokyo region or pay for things at a 7/11. It’s a very common and convenient form of payment. There has been a pause on selling physical tourist cards in the last couple of years but I believe they are coming back in 2025. Currently, you are only able to get a physical card at Narita airport. The digital version is much easier to obtain and manage though.
There is a wide variety of food and things to do throughout Japan but with limited time, it’s easy to utilize a single day or two to explore Tokyo. Harajuku for shopping, Shibuya crossing for photos, Shinjuku for some sights and food. I ended up going to a Yusha Kobo Keyboard Specialty Shop in Akihabara and buying all the parts to build myself a mechanical keyboard. The coffee at Glitch Coffee & Roasters is a cool experience if you’re into coffee. There is just so much to experience and see that it’s easy to find things to do, however much time you have before or after race weekend.
Final Thoughts
While exploring Suzuka circuit during Friday practice, I was able to reflect on how lucky I was to be sitting under a brightly bloomed sakura tree at the iconic S Turns, watching the cars navigate these turns at speed. The friends I made over the weekend at the meetup really helped solidify the positive experience of traveling to the other side of the world alone for a race weekend. Having something in common with a bunch of internet strangers can be quite fun and lead to some great memories. After three days at the circuit and some tired legs, I realized I had a huge smile leaving the circuit while all the staff were waving and saying a cheerful goodbye to everybody at the exit. I couldn’t wait to revisit, so I have booked the same Airbnb and will be at the Japanese Grand Prix again this year! The Japanese Grand Prix is my new favorite race to travel to and I can’t wait to experience it again.
Cost Summary
- LAX-NRT return flights = 72,000 SkyMiles + $112 USD
- AUS-LAX return flights = $195 USD
- Haneda to Nagoya one-way flight (ANA, J class) = $221 USD
- Nagoya to Narita one-way flight (JAL, J class) = $145 USD
- 3-Day Grandstand B2 = $680 USD
- Airbnb Nagoya 4 nights = $616 USD
- One night stay at Hilton Tokyo Bay = $297 USD* (44,462 JPY)
- One night stay at Hilton Tokyo Narita Airport = $145 USD (21,727 JPY)
*Received $200 credit towards this booking via Hilton Aspire Amex card
