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

By Takanori Yamamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

14:22 JST, January 8, 2025

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 city] is now courting tourists as part of [Noto’s] 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.