Toyama, Osaka Among New York Times 52 Places to Go for 2025

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Dancers perform during the Owara Kaze no Bon festival in Toyama City in September 2024.

NEW YORK — Toyama City and Osaka City have been selected for The New York Times’ list of “52 Places to Go in 2025.”

Published on Tuesday, the list describes Toyama as a city that enables visitors to “enjoy cultural wonders and culinary delights while skipping the crowds.”

The list introduces Toyama as a gateway to the Noto Peninsula, which was devastated in 2024 by the New Year’s Day earthquake and torrential rain in September. “Although still recovering, [the peninsula] is now courting tourists as part of its recovery efforts,” the list says.

Attractions recommended by the list include the Toyama Glass Art Museum and the Owara Kaze no Bon festival, a traditional event, dating back to the Edo period (1603-1867), at which people dance to pray for a plentiful harvest.

As “culinary delights,” the list recommends a restaurant that offers Japanese-style curry and an izakaya that “unexpectedly — but deliciously — pairs natural wine with oden.”

The list mentions that Osaka will host this year’s World Expo. It also describes Grand Green Osaka, a redevelopment complex near JR Osaka Station built on what used to be a rail freight yard, as a “game-changing project.”

Yamaguchi City was among the recommended places on the paper’s 2024 list.