Conforming with tradition for the Japanese round of the World Superbike series, the local Japanese riders did very well, with one of them, Hitoyasu Izutsu (Kawasaki) taking a double win.
Of the WSB regulars, Noriyuki Haga (2/4; Yamaha); and Colin Edwards (5/3; Honda) left the round with the most points.
The factory Ducati squad of Ben Bostrom and Troy Bayliss had a miserable day, with both riders going down in the first race and Bayliss getting knocked out of the second race. Bostrom finished 13th in race two.
1. Hitoyasu Izutsu (#64 - KAWASAKI) 2. Noriyuki Haga (#41 - YAMAHA) 3. Pierfrancesco Chili (#7 - SUZUKI) 4. Akira Ryo (#58 - SUZUKI) 5. Colin Edwards (#2 - HONDA) 6. Keiichi Kitigawa (#59 - SUZUKI) 7. Makoto Tamada (#61 - HONDA) 8. Wataru Yoshikawa (#57 - YAMAHA) 9. Troy Corser (#3 - APRILIA) 10. Gregorio Lavilla (#6 - KAWASAKI)
1. Hitoyasu Izutsu (#64 - KAWASAKI) 2. Wataru Yoshikawa (#57 - YAMAHA) 3. Colin Edwards (#2 - HONDA) 4. Noriyuki Haga (#41 - YAMAHA) 5. Troy Corser (#3 - APRILIA) 6. Akira Yanagawa (#4 - KAWASAKI) 7. Tamaki Serizawa (#62 - KAWASAKI) 8. Keiichi Kitigawa (#59 - SUZUKI) 9. Akira Ryo (#58 - SUZUKI) 10. Gregorio Lavilla (#6 - KAWASAKI)
1. Noriyuki Haga (#41 - YAMAHA) 104 pts. 2. Colin Edwards (#2 - HONDA) 94 pts. 3. Troy Corser (#3 - APRILIA) 69 pts. 4. Pierfrancesco Chili (#7 - SUZUKI) 59 pts. 5. Gregorio Lavilla (#6 - KAWASAKI) 54 pts. 6. Hitoyasu Izutsu (#64 - KAWASAKI) 50 pts. 7. Anthony Gobert (#501 - BIMOTA) 36 pts. Carl Fogarty (#1 - DUCATI) 36 pts. 9. Wataru Yoshikawa (#57 - YAMAHA) 28 pts. 10. Katsuaki Fujiwara (#9 - SUZUKI) 27 pts. Akira Yanagawa (#4 - KAWASAKI) 27 pts.