Motegi

[EGG]

Hi

We're going to be in the off-season until April, so I thought I'd post up info on getting to the Honda museum at Motegi from when I went there October last year.

The museum is open until 4:30 most days of the week. You can get to Utsunomiya using the Tohoku shinkansen from either the Tokyo station (the main Tokyo station for the above-ground lines, there's only one or two subway connections to this station), or from Omiya (get there using one of the local lines, then catch the shinkansen).

The Tohoku shinkansens all have different end-points, but all bar the ones beginning with N- will go past Utsunomiya. Some areas along the line are speed-restricted so you won't be at full speed all the time. They also won't let you stick your head out the window.

From Utsunomiya it's a 75min bus trip to Motegi, but the bus schedule is pretty random!

I can only suggest trying to dig up a schedule on the net, get to Utsunomiya early in the morning or hire a car/bike. I spent 2.5 hours waiting for the next bus. There are minimal english signs at the bus stand there and nothing which says 'Motegi'. I think Motegi is schedule #4 on stand #3 though. The bus will dump you at Motegi, which is ~5mins from the circuit by car (taxi should be around, bit expensive, but it's in woop-woop).

There's an ATM at the circuit that will take foreign cards. Getting out, there's the bus back to Utsunomiya, or a Moka line train (not on the main train maps) which takes 65 minutes to get to Shimodate on the Mito line. From there you can get to Oyama and jump back on the shinkansen to Tokyo. There was a Moka train leaving Motegi at 5:30 and bus at 6:00 when I was there on a weekday. Took me 6 hours to get out there and 4 hours to get back to Tokyo, so maybe find somewhere nearby to stay as the countryside around Motegi is really, really nice.

Possily the Moka line might be a more reliable way of getting into Motegi than the midday bus, but I suspect both of them are more aligned with peoples working schedules and hence not many run midday.

The museum isn't bad, but I had kind of hoped for even more NSR's/RCV's/RC's/champcars. The McLaren F1 cars were out on loan when I was there. They did have an Asimo/U3-X display though.

[gossie]

Good stuff EGG. But don't know if I will ever make Montegi, even though I would like to.

I must say I do enjoy getting "lost" in Japan. The locals I find are VERY helpful and lovely people.
Buses I have always found to be NEVER late and pull up at EXACTLY on the same spot at the stop each time.

Shinkansen, well ain't that just something else. And your right, you can't stick your head out the window, cause it would probably get blown off.