As tsunami hits Pacific, Ryo Tatsuki's quake prophecy stirs fresh fears of disaster in Japan

Hindustan Times

a day ago

As powerful tsunami waves swept across the Pacific last week, they were matched by a surge of anxiety over a 1999 Japanese manga prophecy. While millions tracked the disaster in real time, social media platforms buzzed with speculation and fear. A street in Japan amid growing online buzz over a manga prophecy predicting disaster.(File Photo/AFP)
According to a CNN report, in China, search for the term 'prophecy' surged on Douyin app following the tsunami, with more than 1.1 million views centered on the claims of Ryo Tatsuki, a Japanese manga artist.
Her work, republished in 2021, contains striking prediction: a massive earthquake followed by tsunami waves would strike Japan in July 2025.
Meanwhile, on the same day, a Hong Kong newspaper ran the headline, 'Will Ryo Tatsuki's prediction of a major disaster in July come true?' according to the CNN report.
Tourism hit by quake rumors
Andrea Wang, a 25-year-old from China, canceled a planned April trip. 'The manga made me concerned about the risk to my life,' she told CNN. Despite the tsunami passing without a major Japanese disaster, Wang said she has no plans to travel to Japan in 2025.
A Bloomberg report in May highlighted a sharp drop in holiday bookings to Japan from Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, tracing the trend to rumors of the quake prediction. ForwardKeys travel data cited by Bloomberg Intelligence indicated a 50% year-on-year drop in bookings from Hong Kong alone.
In June, visitors from Hong Kong fell by 33.4%, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) confirmed. The agency attributed the drop to persistent online rumors about an impending natural disaster.
Manga from 1999 takes new life on social media
Originally released in 1999, Tatsuki's manga sparked viral memes and heated online debate earlier this year, especially across China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
The artist, whom some fans credit with predicting Japan's 2011 earthquake, wrote that the July 2025 catastrophe came to her in a dream.
The Japanese authorities and seismologists have repeatedly dismissed the rumors. The Japan Meteorological Agency has reiterated that current scientific methods cannot predict earthquakes with reliable accuracy.
Still, the manga's impact has been felt beyond digital platforms. Travelers across Asia reportedly canceled summer plans to visit Japan, citing fear over the supposed prophecy.
Japan remains a top travel destination despite fears
Despite the regional dip, overall tourism to Japan remains strong. In the first half of 2025, a record 21.5 million tourists visited the country—a 21% increase from the previous year—according to figures published by news agency AFP in July.
Japan, located along the seismically active 'Ring of Fire,' experiences frequent earthquakes and tsunamis.
Even so, the Japanese government remains optimistic. It has set a goal of increasing annual tourist arrivals to 60 million by 2030.