It featured 27 special stages, and was won by Mikko Hirvonen of BP Ford World Rally Team.

Sébastien Loeb retired on the next leg of the rally after his co-driver Daniel Elena called out the wrong pace note instruction for the first time in ten years.

In December 2007, Rally Japan organisers announced that for the 2008 WRC season the event will move from Obihiro to Sapporo, the biggest city in Hokkaidō.

The event saw Hirvonen take his second win in Japan in a row, ahead of his teammate Jari-Matti Latvala and Citroën Total's Sébastien Loeb, who secured a record fifth title with his third-place finish.

The rally also featured a bad crash by François Duval, which injured his co-driver Patrick Pivato.