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Metro
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Japanese manga comic predicts ‘great disaster' in July 2025 – what could it mean?
Andrea Horbinski, 40, isn't that fussed that Japan could face Armageddon in only a few weeks. Horbinski, who holds a PhD in Japanese history, knows all too well that a 2021 manga has predicted a 'great disaster' will strike the country in July. The complete edition of Watashi ga Mita Mira (The Future I Saw), by Japan's answer to Nostradamus, Ryo Tatsuki, says it will occur on July 5. The unfounded claims have convinced some superstitious tourists to cancel their holidays, fearing a 'mega-earthquake'. Not Horbinski, though. The San Francisco Bay Area local landed in Tokyo this week – while in the city, she bought a copy of The Future I Saw. 'I'd heard about it a bit from people on social media,' she told Metro, 'and I'm always interested in reading interesting manga.' What does the manga predict will happen? And has it ever come true? The Future I Saw, published in 1999, is composed of 15 dreams that Tatsuki had in 1985 when her mother gifted her a notebook. The cover shows pages from her 'dream diary'. 'Boom!' one reads, depicting the once 'beautiful' Mount Fuji erupting as storm clouds gather. Another has an image of Princess Diana with the words, 'The dream I saw on August 31, 1995. Diana? What is it?', while one cryptically mentions a 'death anniversary' and the date June 12, 1995. But the most alarming among them: 'Great disaster happens March 2011.' Some readers saw the Tōhoku earthquake in March 2011, among the strongest ever recorded in Japan, as the 'great disaster' Tatsuki dreamt of. The 9-magnitude earthquake set off a devastating tsunami that sent towering walls of water slamming into the northern coast, killing 19,700. Of the 15 dreams, 13 have come true, more or less, including the deaths of Diana and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, as well as a pandemic in 2020 – the coronavirus. A reprint of the graphic novel included the July prophecy and has gained cult status, with more than one million copies sold since 2021, according to the publisher, Asuka Shinsha. 'A crack will open up under the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, sending ashore waves three times as tall as those from the Tōhoku earthquake,' the book says, adding that the seas will 'boil'. Bookings to Japan tumble in Asia amid 'earthquake prophecy' Tourism in Japan has been booming for years. This year alone, more than 10,500,000 international tourists have visited, with nearly 3,500,000 in March. But airline bookings to Japan from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have plummeted in recent months, an analysis by Bloomberg found. Reservations from Hong Kong fell 50% in April compared to last year, while those booked for late June to early July tumbled 86%. Hong Kong travel agencies have said they're seeing fewer bookings because of the 'earthquake prophecy'. 'After discussing it with my family, we cancelled our trip to Japan in July and August,' one spooked tourist told the Hong Kong paper Headline Daily. 'The earthquake has been widely reported in the newspapers and everyone is saying the same thing, so we decided to avoid it just to be safe. We have chosen to travel to Europe instead.' Horbinski said: 'This manga being credited with a decrease in bookings shows the powerful role manga can play in people's imaginations. 'But while I'm sure some people are holding off on travelling to Japan due to this manga's dire predictions, I suspect the overall decrease probably has more to do with increasing global fears of an economic recession.' Could the 'great disaster' be a mega-earthquake? Some holidaymakers believe Tatsuki's bleak prediction is one that seismologists have long anticipated – a 'mega-quake' hitting Japan. Government officials say there's an 80% chance it will happen in the next 30 years, with a death toll of 298,000 in the worst-case scenario. Stewart Fishwick, professor of geophysics and Head of School at the University of Leicester, said there's no need to panic – or cancel your holiday – just yet. Earthquakes happen when two tectonic plates butt heads and one slips under the other, causing a burst of energy. Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates, Fishwick told Metro, making it likely to experience tectonic activity. 'Given the location, and the number of people who would be affected by a great earthquake, and any resulting tsunami, there is a necessity to be aware of the risks and to consider what mitigations (to limit damage and loss of life) can be put in place,' he explained. While a monster earthquake could be on the cards for this century, the chances of it are lower than some think. Fishwick said: 'Even the 80% chance in the next 30 years is at the very high end of the range of forecasts that have been made for this area – others put it at around 10-30%.' Dr Ian Stimpson, a senior lecturer in geophysics at Keele University in Staffordshire, said that if seismologists and soothsayers have one thing in common, it's being unable to predict when a major quake will happen. Speaking to Metro, he said: 'There are strong earthquake-resistant building codes and intensive monitoring by networks of seismometers and GPS stations. 'Whilst knowledge of the geology, the historical record of earthquakes in the region, and seismic monitoring allow the forecasting of earthquakes, suggesting areas with a high probability of an earthquake occurring over the next few decades, the precise time, location and magnitude of a particular earthquake cannot be predicted.' Tatsuki, 70, agrees. 'People can think in their own ways, but please don't get too afraid,' she told the Mainichi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. 'Listen to experts and stay calm.' check our news page.
Metro
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Manga comic predicts 'great disaster' in July 2025 - what could it mean?
Andrea Horbinski, 40, isn't that fussed that Japan could face Armageddon in only a few weeks. Horbinski, who holds a PhD in Japanese history, knows all too well that a 2021 manga has predicted a 'great disaster' will hit the country in July. The complete edition of Watashi ga Mita Mira (The Future I Saw), by Japan's answer to Nostradamus, Ryo Tatsuki, says it will occur on July 5. The unfounded claims have convinced some superstitious tourists to cancel their holidays, fearing a 'mega-earthquake'. Not Horbinski, though. The San Francisco Bay Area local landed in Tokyo this week – while in the city, she bought a copy of The Future I Saw. 'I'd heard about it a bit from people on social media,' she told Metro, 'and I'm always interested in reading interesting manga.' The Future I Saw, published in 1999, is made up of 15 dreams that Tatsuki ad in 1985 when her mother handed her a notebook. The cover shows pages from her 'dream diary'. 'Boom!' one entry reads, depicting the once 'beautiful as a postcard' Mount Fuji erupting as storm clouds gather. Another has an image of Princess Diana with the words, 'The dream I saw on August 31, 1995. Diana? What is it?', while one cryptically mentions a 'death anniversary' and the date June 12, 1995. But the most alarming among them: 'Great disaster happens in March 2011.' Some readers saw the Tōhoku earthquake in March 2011, among the strongest ever recorded in Japan, as the 'great disaster' Tatsuki dreamt of. The 9.1-magnitude earthquake set off a devastating tsunami that sent towering walls of water slamming into the northern coast, killing 19,700. Of the 15 dreams, 13 have come true, more or less, including the deaths of Diana and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, as well as a pandemic in 2020 – the coronavirus. A reprint of the graphic novel included the July prophecy and has gained cult status, with more than one million copies sold since 2021, according to the publisher, Asuka Shinsha. 'A crack will open up under the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, sending ashore waves three times as tall as those from the Tōhoku earthquake,' the book says, adding that the seas will 'boil'. Tourism in Japan has been booming for years. This year alone, more than 10,500,000 international tourists have visited, with nearly 3,500,000 in March, according to tourism officials. But airline bookings to Japan from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea have plummeted in recent months, an analysis by Bloomberg found. Reservations from Hong Kong fell 50% in April compared to last year, while those booked for late June to early July tumbled 86%. Hong Kong travel agencies have said they're seeing fewer bookings because of the 'earthquake prophecy'. 'After discussing it with my family, we cancelled our trip to Japan in July and August,' one spooked tourist told the Hong Kong paper Headline Daily. 'The earthquake has been widely reported in the newspapers and everyone is saying the same thing, so we decided to avoid it just to be safe. We have chosen to travel to Europe instead. Horbinski said: 'This manga being credited with a decrease in bookings shows the powerful role manga can play in people's imaginations. 'But while I'm sure some people are holding off on travelling to Japan due to this manga's dire predictions, I suspect the overall decrease probably has more to do with increasing global fears of an economic recession.' Some holidaymakers believe Tatsuki's bleak prediction is one that seismologists have long anticipated – a 'mega-quake' hitting Japan. Government officials say there's an 80% chance it will happen in the next 30 years, with a death toll of 298,000 in the worst-case scenario. Stewart Fishwick, professor of geophysics and Head of School at the University of Leicester, said there's no need to panic – or cancel your holiday – just yet. Earthquakes happen when two tectonic plates butt heads and one slips under the other, causing a burst of energy. Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates, Fishwick told Metro, making it likely to experience tectonic activity. 'Given the location, and the number of people who would be affected by a great earthquake, and any resulting tsunami, there is a necessity to be aware of the risks and to consider what mitigations (to limit damage and loss of life) can be put in place,' he explained. While a 'mega-earthquake' could be on the cards for this century, the chances of it are lower than some think. Fishwick said: 'Even the 80% chance in the next 30 years is at the very high end of the range of forecasts that have been made for this area – others put it at around 10-30%.' Dr Ian Stimpson, a senior lecturer in geophysics at Keele University in Staffordshire, said that if seismologists and soothsayers have one thing in common, it's being unable to predict when a major quake will happen. More Trending 'There are strong earthquake-resistant building codes and intensive monitoring by networks of seismometers and GPS stations,' he said. 'Whilst knowledge of the geology, the historical record of earthquakes in the region, and seismic monitoring allow the forecasting of earthquakes, suggesting areas with a high probability of an earthquake occurring over the next few decades, the precise time, location and magnitude of a particular earthquake cannot be predicted.' Tatsuki, 70, agrees. 'People can think in their own ways, but please don't get too afraid,' she told the Mainichi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. 'Listen to experts and stay calm.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Is it safe to travel to Turkey right now? Latest advice after 5.8 magnitude earthquake MORE: Girl, 14, killed after Turkey and Greece hit by magnitude 5.8 earthquake MORE: I fell in love with Japan's fourth biggest city – and its lesser-known neighbour
29-05-2025
- Business
Fiscal Headaches Mount Despite End of Negative Interest Rates
After more than two decades of an ultralow period, interest rates in Japan are finally starting to rise. While this is welcome news for savers and lenders, it may spell serious trouble for borrowers, especially when debt levels are extraordinarily high. And no borrower in Japan carries more debt than the government. In the following, I will explore how further rate hikes could threaten Japan's fiscal sustainability. For any entity dependent on borrowing to sustain its operations, the ability to continue servicing its debt and meet obligations on time is critical for economic survival. This applies not only to private businesses but also to public entities, namely the government. For decades, Japan has continued to issue bonds to cover budget shortfalls (Figure 1), pushing its ratio of public debt to GDP above 250%—among the highest globally. What has allowed Japan to maintain relative fiscal stability under such enormous debt is its remarkably low interest payments. As Figure 1 shows, those payments remained around ¥10 trillion from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, even as debt levels continued to climb, and they actually declined in the early 2000s. This was thanks largely to the Bank of Japan's unconventional and experimental monetary policies. In response to a banking crisis in the late 1990s, precipitated by massive nonperforming loans, the BOJ introduced a zero-interest-rate policy and, once short-term rates hit zero, namely the effective lower bound, began quantitative easing through open-market purchases of government bonds. Though not aimed directly at easing the government's interest burden, these bond purchases pushed long-term interest rates below 1%, substantially lowering debt-servicing costs. High-interest bonds were refinanced at much lower rates, shrinking overall interest payments. Specifically, in the early 2000s, as long-term bonds with high-yield coupons reached maturity, they were replaced with newly issued JGBs with coupons at ultralow rates, allowing the national interest burden not just to hold steady, but to actually decline. Even as efforts to overcome deflation continued, the 2008 global financial crisis and 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami forced the BOJ to maintain its ultraloose stance. Under Governor Kuroda Haruhiko, who took office in 2013 just after Abe Shinzō returned as prime minister, the central bank dramatically expanded QE through a policy dubbed QQE, or quantitative and qualitative monetary easing, a strategy that continued through Kuroda's two five-year terms and into the first year under his successor, Ueda Kazuo. These aggressive measures helped suppress interest payments through the late 2010s. A Transformed Postpandemic Landscape Inflationary pressures surged across major Western economies following the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually affecting Japan as well. In March 2024, the BOJ ended its era of unprecedented monetary easing and negative interest rates, subsequently raising rates twice while scaling back bond purchases. Projections by the Ministry of Finance, published regularly in the budgetary process, following the shift in monetary policy, now see interest payments rising from ¥10.5 trillion in the initial fiscal 2025 budget to ¥25.8 trillion by fiscal 2034. Can expenditures on this scale be sustained when just ¥78.4 trillion of Japan's ¥115 trillion budget is covered by tax revenue? All signs point toward a fiscal reckoning. The ministry's projections rest on fragile assumptions, such as long-term interest rates (for 10-year government bonds) stabilizing at 2.5% between fiscal 2028 and 2034. Figure 2 is a breakdown of the Finance Ministry's estimated interest payments, based on data released in February 2024. I have separated interest payments into two categories: (1) fixed payments for bonds already issued at the time of the estimates and (2) projections for new and refunding bonds, which are vulnerable to future short-term and long-term interest-rate changes. As the figure shows, Japan's interest payments will initially be primarily for the first class of bonds, but from fiscal 2027 onward, the second category of newly issued and refunding bonds will become dominant, meaning that Japan's debt burden will increasingly be exposed to market fluctuations. Higher short-term and long-term interest rates will directly inflate future payments. What is more, Japan not only issues new bonds each year but also refinances a massive portion of existing debt. In fiscal 2025 alone, total issuance will reach ¥172 trillion, and the market will need to absorb it smoothly to avoid fiscal turbulence. Figure 3 shows that more than half of these bonds have maturities of five years or less, making them highly susceptible to fluctuations in short- and medium-term rates. Will Massive Bond Issuance Trigger a Fiscal Crisis? We should bear in mind that the amount 'over ¥170 trillion' has another important meaning. Japan's ability to continue issuing over ¥170 trillion in bonds each year—potentially at higher coupon rates—is crucial to its fiscal survival. Such a hefty sum would have particularly large consequences if investors lose confidence and begin demanding significantly higher yields. Should the government fail to secure the necessary funding, 'over ¥170 trillion' could be equal to the amount of a shortfall that leaves the government without the means to finance its operations. While the government incurs over ¥170 trillion in new and refunding bonds each year, the ¥140 trillion required just to roll over maturing bonds roughly equals two years' worth of tax revenue. This means that even if all tax revenue were used solely for debt repayment, there would still be a hefty shortfall, leaving nothing for other vital expenditures like social security. This highlights the scale of Japan's debt problem—it cannot be resolved simply through hikes in the rates of the corporate or consumption or income tax. If borrowing becomes unfeasible, the government may be forced into 'domestic debt adjustment'—radical measures not seen since the immediate postwar period, such as freezing deposits and taxing assets. Examining the Yen's Decline The yen has weakened dramatically since 2022, widely attributed to interest rate differentials, with the BOJ maintaining its ultralow rates while other central banks raised theirs in the face of postpandemic inflationary risks. But is this the whole story? Figure 4 compares the yen-dollar exchange rate with the yield spread of Japanese and US five-year government bonds. If the exchange rate were purely a factor of the difference in interest rates, the yen should have appreciated more markedly in recent months as the differential narrowed. Its persistent weakness points to another factor: eroding investor confidence in Japan's fiscal and monetary discipline. Japan would be wise to heed such market signals. Fiscal consolidation must become an urgent national priority. (Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
Japan Today
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami opens exhibit in Ohio museum with more than 100 works
Takashi Murakami greets visitors to an exhibit of his art at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland. By PATRICK AFTOORA-ORSAGOS Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami has never been limited to one medium, creating paintings, sculptures, luxury goods with fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, album covers and an exclusive merchandising collection with Major League Baseball. Now, he has filled a U.S. museum hall with portraits in every color as part of an exhibit that opened Sunday at the Cleveland Museum of Art. 'Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,' an update of an exhibit first shown in Los Angeles, features more than 100 ranging works. Murakami, known for his smiling rainbow-colored flower icon, intentionally layered light-hearted themes with historical events linked to trauma, he told The Associated Press. The art explores the impact of trauma on people and culture, said Ed Schad, curator and publications manager at contemporary art museum The Broad in Los Angeles. The portraits "have historical roots and that they could actually tell you a lot about what a society is doing, how healthy a society is, what a society is responding to,' Schad said. 'What society is responding to most often in this exhibition is the idea of trauma.' One sculpture depicts Murakami and his dog with half of their bodies in anatomical form, showing their bones and organs, while the other half is their outward appearances. The sculpture, Pom and Me, is described as Murakami's interpretation of his experience in the West through the lens of his Japanese identity. Square portraits featuring cartoonish flowers with facial expressions cover one wall of the exhibit, organized by background color to create a rainbow effect. One flower is wiping a tear from its eye, while another appears to be a zombie. One has blood dripping from its mouth. One appears to be in awe watching fireworks. Though there are no obviously direct visual references to historical events, the museum said the art can be seen through the lens of three events in Japanese history: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during World War II, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, leading to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Murakami said it's a bit of a misunderstanding that his work 'is very easy and very popular." "But this is okay because this is one of my tricks,' he said. What someone might admire about his art as a child, Murakami said, would likely not be what is admired by an adult. Before entering the exhibit on the lower floor of the museum, visitors can walk through a version of the Yumedono, the octagonal-shaped building at Horyuji Temple in Nara, Japan. Murakami said he was inspired to create the structure after viewing the 2024 television series 'Shōgun.' Inside the structure are four new paintings — 'Blue Dragon Kyoto,' 'Vermillion Bird Kyoto,' 'White Tiger Kyoto' and 'Black Tortoise Kyoto' — created between 2023 and 2025. The ticketed exhibit runs until early September. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami opens exhibit in Ohio museum with more than 100 works
CLEVELAND -- Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami has never been limited to one medium, creating paintings, sculptures, luxury goods with fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, album covers and an exclusive merchandising collection with Major League Baseball. Now, he has filled a U.S. museum hall with portraits in every color as part of an exhibit opening Sunday at the Cleveland Museum of Art. 'Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,' an update of an exhibit first shown in Los Angeles, features more than 100 ranging works. Murakami, known for his smiling rainbow-colored flower icon, intentionally layered light-hearted themes with historical events linked to trauma, he told The Associated Press. The art explores the impact of trauma on people and culture, said Ed Schad, curator and publications manager at contemporary art museum The Broad in Los Angeles. The portraits "have historical roots and that they could actually tell you a lot about what a society is doing, how healthy a society is, what a society is responding to,' Schad said. 'What society is responding to most often in this exhibition is the idea of trauma.' One sculpture depicts Murakami and his dog with half of their bodies in anatomical form, showing their bones and organs, while the other half is their outward appearances. The sculpture, Pom and Me, is described as Murakami's interpretation of his experience in the West through the lens of his Japanese identity. Square portraits featuring cartoonish flowers with facial expressions cover one wall of the exhibit, organized by background color to create a rainbow effect. One flower is wiping a tear from its eye, while another appears to be a zombie. One has blood dripping from its mouth. One appears to be in awe watching fireworks. Though there are no obviously direct visual references to historical events, the museum said the art can be seen through the lens of three events in Japanese history: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States during World War II, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, leading to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Murakami said it's a bit of a misunderstanding that his work 'is very easy and very popular." "But this is okay because this is one of my tricks,' he said. What someone might admire about his art as a child, Murakami said, would likely not be what is admired by an adult. Before entering the exhibit on the lower floor of the museum, visitors can walk through a version of the Yumedono, the octagonal-shaped building at Horyuji Temple in Nara, Japan. Murakami said he was inspired to create the structure after viewing the 2024 television series 'Shōgun.' Inside the structure are four new paintings — 'Blue Dragon Kyoto,' 'Vermillion Bird Kyoto,' 'White Tiger Kyoto' and 'Black Tortoise Kyoto' — created between 2023 and 2025. The ticketed exhibit runs until early September.
