SUZUKA, Japan - The host of this week's Japanese Grand Prix is hoping a calendar shift to one of the country's peak tourist seasons and a cheap currency may bring in more international visitors to an event that traditionally has attracted a mainly domestic audience.

The Formula One race has been moved from its usual autumn slot, during the typhoon season when heavy rains have marred the spectacle in the past, to April 5-7, coinciding with the peak of Japan's world-renowned cherry blossom, or 'sakura', bloom.