I’m in Okinawa for another year and a half, and I am planning to go to the Japan GP at Twin Ring Motegi in October. Anyone ever been? Any tips on the whole deal, hotels/camping, travel tips, best tickets to get for the best experience? Thanks in advance.
I was there for a low key event in 2000. I was working in Tokyo; a friend that was a Tokyo resident rode his Ducati in a few races. I will reach out to him to see what he has to say. BTW … I was born in Okinawa. Army brat.
interested in this as well. it looks like tickets dont go on sale until june 2020. does japan have a tourist off season, i assume the weather will be fairly crappy in october? can i book accommodations for the race weekend to watch rossi fail into retirement and then wing a vacation in japan for a 1st timer? I potentially have a friend to escort us around. do i need to plot out a week or two or can i just save up a bunch of cash and just hop skip jump around for a couple weeks?
Semi-related. I'm taking a big bucket-list trip to Japan in a few months, and I was hoping to "swing by" Motegi to see the Honda collection. I will be in Tokyo for a few days and figured I could take a train ride out to the track one afternoon. It's not that easy. Motegi is a fair distance from a big city and, while the public transportation options are there, they are limited. It would essentially take all day to get there, have a short look around and get back. Lots of transit switches, bus rides, etc. Not exactly a bullet-train to the front door. Now, during the races, they put on loads of special public transit for the race, but otherwise, a little tough to get to. But in my "off season" case, I finally had to throw that one into the "not going to be able to make it" category. There are loads of things to see, and only so much time to see them. Still hoping to see the Yamaha and Suzuki collections in the Hamamatsu area, but they aren't the equal of Honda's museum.
October is the off-season. Weather may be OK. You can totally wing it. Get a Shinkansen week pass and just ride the rails wherever you want. Plenty of hotels will be available last minute.
I visited Motegi during the summer a couple of years back. It did take a decent chunk of time to get there traveling from Tokyo. I had JR Pass and it was a local train to a shinkansen and a bus to the track itself. All covered by the pass, though. That bus only ran once the day we went, so if you missed it on the way back you would be on your own and the track really is out there in the country. We were there from about 10-4, so 6 hours to visit the track which was enough to see all that I wanted to. The Honda Collection was definitely the highlight of my trip.
Not sure about tourist off season, but October should be nice, but possibly some rain. I lucked out last December and it was perfect weather, warm and sunny. If you plan to go all over you might want to plan a basic route. Like up here for 4-5 days over here for 4-5 days, etc. Thats for rail pass info. The main island is divided into east and west for JR passes. So you may want to go East of Tokyo for a while and then back West and not criss cross the island a bunch. The JR is the main rail line from city to city so that pass works for that travel. In the cities I think you may need a separate pass for trains/subway. And when we used the Shinkansen we bought individual tickets day of. Have fun
James May did a Prime mini-series on Japanese culture. Worth a watch for some insight. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11302324/
I think the best way is to get a hotel in Mito. From Mito to the track is about a 30-40 minute drive. It’s out in the country and Mito is the closest big city. There’s is a cool little hole in the wall bar in Mito that has a lot of Moto GP body work hanging on the wall. The owner is a huge fan. It’s pretty easy to get around if you’re used to driving over there. Google maps works well.
Is it that complicated to simply rent a car and go there on your own ? The Honda Museum is a bucket list item for me.
I was looking at taking a Shinkansen north of Tokyo and renting a car at the train station. For me, that seemed the best option, because I already had the rail pass, and I don't have to drive in and out of Tokyo. I still may do it, but it will be an "on the day" decision. We are already extending our trip to take some time in Tokyo. If you are going to rent a car, make sure you have an International Driving Permit before you go. As I understand it, Japan is one of the few places where they are sticklers about that. On my UK and other European trips, I always had one, and never showed it to anybody.
Well I posted on the local Oki rider’s Facebook page that’s mostly military riders, and I found a small group of two or three guys that went last year and are going again this year. They are gonna let me tag along with them, just piggyback on their travel plans, which they haven’t booked anything yet. I did some initial hotel searches, and I’m a little concerned about what already looks like little to no hotel availability anywhere near the track, but these guys don’t seem too worried about it, or they just aren’t thinking about it yet. I’m going without wife and kids so if I wind up tent camping it wouldn’t be the worst thing anyway. But I’m glad that it seems like I’ll be able to follow around some guys that have done the trip recently.
I know absolutely nothing about it (prices, availability and whatnot), but there is a hotel inside of the track... https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...aga_gun_Tochigi_Prefecture_Kanto.html#REVIEWS I was considering it when the trip out there was more of a "go". Just FYI...
