Fuji Speedway opened in January 1966 following a construction project that originally aimed to create an American-style superspeedway. Consulting input from Stirling Moss redirected the project toward a European-style road course, though parts of the original superspeedway banking influenced early track sections. The circuit in its current form dates from a comprehensive rebuild by Hermann Tilke completed in 2005, which retained the most distinctive feature of the old layout — the long pit straight, measuring 1.475 km — while modernising the infield to contemporary safety and flow standards.
The track holds an FIA Grade 1 licence, the highest classification, which allows it to host Formula One and other leading international series. Toyota Motor Corporation acquired the majority stake in the circuit from Mitsubishi Estate in 2000, and the speedway became the automotive and motorsport centrepiece of the Fuji Motorsports Forest project, which expanded from 2022 to include the Fuji Speedway Hotel and Fuji Motorsports Museum.
The Super Formula Championship visits Fuji Speedway as a regular fixture, typically scheduling one round in July and a second round in October under the current calendar structure. The straight rewards high-power engineering — the Super Formula SF23 chassis is one of the highest-downforce and highest-power single-seaters outside Formula One — while the infield section, including a sequence of medium-speed corners and a tight hairpin complex, demands mechanical balance and driver precision.
The event listed under the Super GT calendar as the Fuji 500 km Race on Golden Week runs on the same facility and shares infrastructure, making Fuji Speedway an important logistical hub for both of Japan's major four-wheel domestic championships.
Fuji Speedway hosted the first Formula One race in Japan at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix, a race decided by rain, attrition, and a championship showdown between James Hunt and Niki Lauda in which Lauda withdrew from the wet conditions and Hunt secured enough points for the title. A further Formula One round took place in 1977, but an accident involving Gilles Villeneuve that killed two spectators led to the sport's departure from the venue. Formula One returned for the 2007 and 2008 Japanese Grands Prix following the Tilke renovation, both affected by rain, before the race reverted permanently to Suzuka from 2009.
The circuit has also hosted the FIA World Sportscar Championship between 1982 and 1988 and continues to serve as a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in the form of the 6 Hours of Fuji each September. These events, alongside Super Formula, Super GT, and Super Taikyu, make Fuji one of the busiest and most varied-use major circuits in Japan across a calendar year.
Fuji Speedway is modelled in multiple racing simulation titles, including Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo 5, Gran Turismo 6, Gran Turismo Sport, Gran Turismo 7, Project CARS 2, iRacing, and Grid Legends, among others. Its distinctive long straight and Mount Fuji backdrop make it one of the most visually identifiable circuits in sim-racing content.