The first ever F-1 Grand Prix was held at Fuji Speedway and was organized by a newspaper firm called "Sports Nippon" after a long and hard negotiation with JAF (Japanese Automobile Federation) and the FIA.
When Japanese people talk about Formula One, they always talk about Honda's first ever participation in the sport and the boom of 1987 when Satoru Nakajima became the first ever Japanese to be a "full - time" Formula One driver, but 1976 and 1977 Japanese Grands Prix were the only ones, which had the Japanese manufactured Formula One and Japanese driver combinations.
The 1976 season was one of the hardest championship ever with the 1st and 2nd only separated by 3 points coming into the final round of the season.
The defending champion, Niki Lauda of Ferrari was leading by 37 points at one point in the early part of the season, but then came the famous fiery accident at Nurburgring in Germany. He was so badly burned that people thought that it was impossible for him to make a come back but incredibly he was back at the Italian GP at Monza and not only he made a come back but he finished 4th.
The championship was carried all the way to the final round of the season in Japan with Ferrari of Niki Lauda and McLaren of James Hunt fighting for the championship. It must have been a huge treat to the Japanese fans to have been able to witness one of the hardest championship finales.
Also, 1976 season saw the debut of a very unique Tyrrell P34 six wheel and the champion to be with Ferrari in 1979, "sliding" Jody Schekter as well.
There was a plan or even already confirmed that Japanese Grand Prix was going to take place in 1978 in April as well. However, it was called off, was it due to the fatal accident involving Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) and Ronnie Peterson (Tyrrell) in 1977 killing four spectators, we do not know....
The 1976 race was called "F1 Championship race in Japan" rather than the usual F1 Japanese Grand Prix, because this title was already used by one of the domestic races organized by JAF.