A strange blend of fiction and fear has shaken Japan’s tourism industry. A prophecy from a Japanese manga – claiming a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami will strike on July 5, 2025 – has gone viral across East Asia. Despite lacking a scientific basis, the rumour has led to cancelled trips, falling bookings, and real economic damage. The Japanese government and scientific community are working to calm growing panic, even as online speculation continues to spiral.
Origin of the Prophecy: “The Future I Saw” by Ryo Tatsuki
At the heart of the rumour is the manga “The Future I Saw” (Watashi ga Mita Mirai), first self-published by artist Ryo Tatsuki in 1999. The manga, based on her recorded dreams, gained notoriety for referencing a “great disaster” in March 2011 – later linked by readers to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
In a 2021 reissue of the manga, Tatsuki noted a new dream: a massive disaster on July 5, 2025, caused by an undersea crack between Japan and the Philippines. According to the dream, this would lead to a tsunami even greater than the one in 2011.
Tatsuki has since clarified that her visions are not predictions and urged people to rely on scientific guidance.
How the Rumour Went Viral
While the manga has existed for years, the prediction resurfaced in 2024–25, gaining momentum on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and YouTube. It spread rapidly in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and South Korea, with influencers and content creators linking it to fears of a Nankai Trough megaquake – a long-feared seismic event off Japan’s Pacific coast.
Two recent natural events intensified the public’s unease:
- A swarm of over 330 earthquakes near Japan’s Tokara Islands in April 2025.
- A volcanic eruption at Mount Shinmoe in southern Kyushu.
Although experts have found no correlation between these events and the manga prophecy, the timing led many to draw unfounded conclusions.
Public Response in Japan: A Nation Divided
A survey conducted by Sky Perfect JSAT in June 2025 found that:
- 49.4% of Japanese respondents had heard about the manga prophecy.
- Awareness was highest among:
- Teenage girls (61.4%) and women in their 50s (57.8%).
- Teenage boys (54.2%) and men in their 20s (51.8%).
This highlights how younger, more internet-active demographics are more likely to be influenced by such rumours.
Tourism Takes a Hit
Despite the lack of scientific support, the prophecy is already affecting Japan’s economy, particularly in the tourism sector:
- Bookings to Japan dropped by up to 30% from major East Asian countries like Hong Kong, China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
- In Tottori Prefecture, May 2025 saw a nearly 50% decline in tourist bookings from Hong Kong.
- Greater Bay Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines have scaled back flights to Japan due to falling demand.
- Travel agencies in the region report a 10–20% drop in bookings.
According to Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute, the rumour could result in a ¥560 billion (approx. $3.9 billion USD) loss in tourism revenue for Japan.
Summing Up
The viral spread of a fictional manga prediction demonstrates the power and danger of misinformation in the digital age. While Japan is a seismically active country and disaster preparedness remains essential, no current scientific method can predict earthquakes with date-specific accuracy.
As July 5, 2025 approaches, experts stress calm, not panic. The manga prophecy may be based on dreams, but its real-world consequences – economic, social, and psychological are anything but imaginary.
