During this period, two post stations were within the modern city limits: Ishiyakushi-juku and Shōno-juku, which prospered due to pilgrimage traffic to the Ise Grand Shrine.

After the start of the Meiji period, the area was organized as part of Suzuka District in 1889 and the town of Kanbe was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889.

On December 1, 1942, Kanbe merged with the villages of Shirako, Inau, Iino, Kawano, Ichinomiya, Mida, Tanagaki, Wakamatsu, Ko, Shono, Takatsuse, Makita, and Ishiyakushi to form the city of Suzuka.

Although the Japanese government encourages mandatory English-language education across the nation, in Suzuka many courses are offered by private cram schools (juku) and by publicly funded institutions supporting Portuguese and Spanish.

In a controversial move, the city's governing body, from April 2004, requires all garbage information and local signage to be in Japanese and Portuguese (but not English).

Located next to the circuit is the Honda Safety Riding/Driving School, where thousands of car and motorcycle drivers have been trained, including many police officers and instructors throughout the world.