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Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
How a Manga prophecy has stirred panic among travel firms, airlines in Japan
In a country where seismic tremors occur every other week and disaster preparedness is woven into the cultural fabric, it takes something extraordinary to unsettle the rhythms of Japan's travel industry. That 'something', it turns out, is a manga, which predicts a major natural disaster in July 2025, based on the author's dream. The revival of Japanese manga comic, Watashi ga Mita Mirai (The Future I Saw), by Ryo Tatsuki, has induced a wave of anxiety amongst travel firms and airlines who report less demand from worried Hong Kongers, by predicting a major earthquake in 2025. In the manga, she explains how the dreams have often had connections to real-life incidents in the future and one particularly unsettling dream involved a major tsunami. The complete version of the comic, 'Watashi ga Mita Mirai Kanzenban' (The Future I Saw: The Complete Edition), republished in 2021, include prophecy to another grave prediction. In 2024, people from Hong Kong made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan, as per AFP. But now, the resurfaced rumours have ignited fear in Japan's travel agencies and airlines, with many bracing for a significant drop in demand. 'The earthquake prophecy has caused a big shift in our customers' preferences,' Frankie Chow, head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday, told AFP. 'I've never experienced this before,' he added. Last month, Japan's Cabinet Office posted on the social media platform X: 'Predicting earthquakes by date, time and place is not possible based on current scientific knowledge.' A Cabinet Office official told AFP that the post was part of its regular public information efforts about earthquakes. A YouTube video by local media outlet HK01, featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to travel to Japan, has been viewed over 100,000 times. Don Hon, a 32-year-old social worker, told AFP he doesn't fully believe the online claims but has still been affected by them. 'I'll just take it as a precaution and won't make any specific plans to travel to Japan,' he said. In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and led to the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, an event eerily similar to what was depicted in Tatsuki's manga. Following the disaster, the artist's work gained widespread attention, and her so-called prophetic dreams began drawing a large following. (With inputs from AFP and Japan Today)
Japan Today
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Manga predicting major disaster in July affecting summer tourism numbers
By SoraNews24 In July 1999, manga author Ryo Tatsuki published "Watashi ga Mita Mirai" (The Future I Saw) which was based on her own dream journal she had been keeping for years. In the manga, she explains how the dreams have often had connections to real-life incidents in the future and one particularly unsettling dream involved a major tsunami. The book received little mainstream attention until sometime after the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011. The story of "Watashi ga Mita Mirai" itself doesn't specifically mention the date or location of its envisioned major tsunami, but on the cover, a flurry of pages from her dream journal are illustrated, with one reading 'A Big Disaster on March 2011.' ▼ The date can be seen on the third page from the right. Image: SoraNews24 That was enough to lend credit to Tatsuki's prophetic dreams and the manga's popularity spread like wildfire, with it being featured on every major television network. Some people also took advantage of Tatsuki's reclusive nature by impersonating her online and spreading their own predictions. This led to her releasing "Watashi ga Mita Mirai Kanzenban" (The Future I Saw: The Complete Edition) in 2021, which in addition to the original story, included addendums that clarified the reference to March 2011 and gave another grave prediction. In the book, Tatsuki explains that she originally wasn't sure if there was a connection between the date and the tsunami in the story, but she knew that was an important date so she included it on the cover. She also says that the next major disaster will take place on July 5, 2025. It's a rather large leap of faith to believe her dreams are prophetic rather than coincidental imagination, but it's a leap that some are willing to take as the effect of "Watashi ga Mita Mirai" can be seen in tourism forecasts this summer. In Hong Kong, where the book became rather popular, Greater Bay Airlines has announced they would reduce flights to and from Japan because of lower demand than usual. After noticing that reservations were 30 percent lower than expected, they investigated the cause and feel it was because of prophecies that a major disaster would occur. Not only the manga, but a popular feng shui expert in Hong Kong also declared that a large earthquake would strike Japan sometime between June and August. This has prompted a response from Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai who said, 'I think it's a problem that this information, based on rather unscientific evidence, is spreading on social media and having an impact on tourism.' Governor Masazumi Gotoda of Tokushima Prefecture also pointed out that these kinds of disasters can happen anywhere at any time and all we can do is always be prepared. It's worth noting that in Japan there's a fairly steady stream of people calling for the next big one to happen sometime soon, and oftentimes book sales are involved. This is likely why online comments about this are filled with a sense of exasperation and cynicism. 'Gee, thanks a lot, occult YouTubers.' 'Here comes Tatsuki again. It's amazing so many people believe this stuff.' 'She's making quite an impact. I wonder how sales are doing.' 'Why does she only predict disasters?' 'Great, now I have to lose my virginity by July.' 'Just calling it a 'great disaster' is comfortably vague, isn't it?' 'Considering all this overtourism, I'd say she's doing us a favor.' 'If she's right about this one, I'll believe her. Otherwise, she can take a hike.' Two really is the magic number that few — if any — earthquake predictors have managed to achieve. Even those who claim to be able to predict them by scientific means tend to fall flat on their second attempt. So, it's probably safe to say that you wouldn't be taking a greater risk visiting Japan on July 5 than you would on any other day. Source: The Sankei Shimbun, Hachima Kiko Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- Secret stairs at Tokyo Station dungeon come with a serious warning -- Japanese scientist predicts another major earthquake in Japan by 2017 -- 'Mt. Fuji Should Erupt by 2015': Ryuku University Professor Emeritus External Link © SoraNews24
SoraNews24
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Manga predicting a major disaster this July affecting summer tourism numbers
Flights to/from Hong Kong affected by predictions on both ends of the routes. In July 1999, manga author Ryo Tatsuki published Watashi ga Mita Mirai ( The Future I Saw ) which was based on her own dream journal she had been keeping for years. In the manga, she explains how the dreams have often had connections to real-life incidents in the future and one particularly unsettling dream involved a major tsunami. The book received little mainstream attention until sometime after the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011. The story of Watashi ga Mita Mirai itself doesn't specifically mention the date or location of its envisioned major tsunami, but on the cover, a flurry of pages from her dream journal are illustrated, with one reading 'A Big Disaster on March 2011.' ▼ The date can be seen on the third page from the right That was enough to lend credit to Tatsuki's prophetic dreams and the manga's popularity spread like wildfire, with it being featured on every major television network. Some people also took advantage of Tatsuki's reclusive nature by impersonating her online and spreading their own predictions. This led to her releasing Watashi ga Mita Mirai Kanzenban ( The Future I Saw: The Complete Edition ) in 2021, which in addition to the original story, included addendums that clarified the reference to March 2011 and gave another grave prediction. In the book, Tatsuki explains that she originally wasn't sure if there was a connection between the date and the tsunami in the story, but she knew that was an important date so she included it on the cover. She also says that the next major disaster will take place on 5 July, 2025. It's a rather large leap of faith to believe her dreams are prophetic rather than coincidental imagination, but it's a leap that some are willing to take as the effect of Watashi ga Mita Mirai can be seen in tourism forecasts this summer. In Hong Kong, where the book became rather popular, Greater Bay Airlines has announced they would reduce flights to and from Japan because of lower demand than usual. After noticing that reservations were 30 percent lower than expected, they investigated the cause and feel it was because of prophecies that a major disaster would occur. Not only the manga, but a popular feng shui expert in Hong Kong also declared that a large earthquake would strike Japan sometime between June and August. This has prompted a response from Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai who said, 'I think it's a problem that this information, based on rather unscientific evidence, is spreading on social media and having an impact on tourism.' Governor Masazumi Gotoda of Tokushima Prefecture also pointed out that these kinds of disasters can happen anywhere at any time and all we can do is always be prepared. It's worth noting that in Japan there's a fairly steady stream of people calling for the next big one to happen sometime soon, and oftentimes book sales are involved. This is likely why online comments about this are filled with a sense of exasperation and cynicism. 'Gee, thanks a lot, occult YouTubers.' 'Here comes Tatsuki again. It's amazing so many people believe this stuff.' 'She's making quite an impact. I wonder how sales are doing.' 'Why does she only predict disasters?' 'Great, now I have to lose my virginity by July.' 'Just calling it a 'great disaster' is comfortably vague, isn't it?' 'Considering all this overtourism, I'd say she's doing us a favor.' 'If she's right about this one, I'll believe her. Otherwise, she can take a hike.' Two really is the magic number that few — if any — earthquake predictors have managed to achieve. Even those who claim to be able to predict them by scientific means tend to fall flat on their second attempt. So, it's probably safe to say that you wouldn't be taking ay greater risk visiting Japan on 5 July as you would on any other day. That being said, this prediction business does have way better odds than the lottery, so let me just throw out there that I predict Japan will have its first female Prime Minister in 2028. There, now I'll just cross my fingers and wait for the book deal to come my way. Source: The Sankei Shimbun, Hachima Kiko Featured image: Pakutaso Insert image © SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
