News Desk
26 May 2025, 03:36 PM IST
Holiday bookings to Japan plunge after a 1999 manga predicted a major disaster on 5 July 2025, sparking social media panic.
A dramatic drop in holiday bookings to Japan from several Asian countries has been linked to a 1990s manga that predicted a major natural disaster on 5 July 2025.
The graphic novel The Future I Saw, by Japanese artist Ryo Tatsuki, is based on what the author described as “prophetic” dreams. The comic, reissued in 2021 with new content, warns of a major disaster in July 2025 — a claim that has gone viral on social media and triggered widespread alarm.
Data from Bloomberg Intelligence, using ForwardKeys airline bookings, show that reservations from Hong Kong are down 50% year-on-year. Bookings between late June and early July have plunged as much as 83%. Similar drops have been reported in Taiwan and South Korea. In Hong Kong, travel agencies confirm that spring holiday bookings to Japan fell by half compared to last year.
Greater Bay Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines have both reduced their Japan-bound services due to lower-than-expected demand. The general manager of Greater Bay’s Japan office, Hiroki Ito, told Asahi Shimbun that seat occupancy was far below the anticipated 80%.
The manga’s original 1999 edition mentioned a “great disaster” in March 2011 — the same month Japan experienced a devastating earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident at Fukushima. That apparent foresight has lent credibility to Tatsuki’s claims among the public, despite experts stressing that earthquake prediction remains scientifically impossible.
NHK reports the manga has inspired over 1,400 YouTube videos, some viewed more than 100 million times, with sensationalist claims including volcanic eruptions and meteor strikes. The reprinted version has sold nearly a million copies.
Miyagi governor Yoshihiro Murai, whose prefecture was among the worst hit in 2011, has appealed to the public not to be swayed by unfounded rumours, which are already impacting local tourism.
Japan, located on the seismically active Pacific “ring of fire,” is one of the most earthquake-prone nations in the world. In April 2025, a government task force warned of an 80% chance of a magnitude-9 quake striking the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years, potentially causing nearly 300,000 deaths and massive infrastructure loss.
According to The Guardian, Ryo Tatsuki has since urged readers not to take her predictions literally. In an interview with Mainichi Shimbun, she expressed hope that her work would encourage disaster preparedness but advised the public to rely on expert opinions and not panic unnecessarily.
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