The series has not held a race outside of Japan since it last visited Buriram in Thailand in the summer of 2019, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic causing races both there and at Sepang in Malaysia to be scratched from the 2020 calendar.
However, over the last six months Japan has started dropping restrictions, reopening its borders to foreign tourists last October and more recently dropping advice for face masks to be worn. In addition, all border controls that were imposed during the pandemic are set to be scrapped in May.
