Converted to a road course, the circuit opened in December 1965 and proved to be somewhat dangerous, with the wide banked turn (named "Daiichi") regularly resulting in major accidents.

My last testing and then the subsequent Sports Car GP were at Fuji, but the track was run in a clockwise direction.

"After a fatal accident in 1974 on the Daiichi banking where drivers Hiroshi Kazato and Seiichi Suzuki were both killed in a fiery accident that injured 6 other people, a new part of track was built to counteract the problem, and the resultant 4.359 km (2.709 mi) course, which also eliminated 5 other fast corners, proved more successful.

In 1977, Gilles Villeneuve was involved in a crash that killed two spectators on the side of the track, leading to Formula One leaving the speedway.

Speeds continued to be very high, and two chicanes were added to the track: one after the first hairpin corner, the second at the entry to the wide, fast final turn (300R).

Even with these changes, the main feature of the track remained its approximately 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long straight, one of the longest in all of motorsports.

Plans to host a CART event in 1991 were abandoned due to conflicts with the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile.

It was not until the autumn of 2000 that the majority of the stocks of the track were bought by Toyota from Mitsubishi Estate[7] as part of its motor racing plans for the future.

On May 3, 1998, there was a multi-car crash during a parade lap before a JGTC race caused by the safety car slowing in torrential rain.

The circuit has hosted the Nismo Festival for historic Nissan racers since refurbishment in 2003; the event previously took place at Okayama.

The only time the circuit is run on a reverse direction is during the D1 Grand Prix round, as Keiichi Tsuchiya felt the new layout meant reduced entry speed, making it less suitable for drifting.

With the reprofiling, as cars no longer run downbank, entry speeds have since been reduced, the hill at the exit making acceleration difficult.

[11] During the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, Fuji Speedway met with a lot of problems, including the paralysis of the transportation network provided by the shuttle buses, poor facilities including some reserved seats without a view, lack of organization, and expensive meals such as simple lunch boxes being sold for 10,000 yen (US$87) at the circuit.

[17][18] For the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix race, organizers responded to lessons learned the previous year by reducing the total number of spectators allowed at the event.

After the Great Recession and its own operational deficit, Toyota discontinued the hosting of Japanese Grand Prix beginning in 2010.

The Fuji circuit is featured prominently in the Japanese television drama Engine as the main setting for the racing scenes, as well as the home of the (fictional) "Regulus Cup".

The track was also featured in an episode of the 11th season of the British automotive show Top Gear, in which host Jeremy Clarkson drives a Nissan GT-R. Part of the Gaki no Tsukai 2013 New Year's Holiday No-Laughing Earth Defense Force punishment game was also shot at Fuji Speedway.