US Edition
Hongkongers Scrap Japan Trips over Comic Book’s Earthquake Prophecy
- A comic book prediction about a major earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan on July 5, 2025, has caused widespread concern across East Asia.
- The prediction, originating from manga artist Ryo Tatsuki's 2021 work, follows a recent 5.5-magnitude earthquake in the Tokara Islands and aligns with a Japanese government warning about the Nankai Trough.
- The viral forecast led to a sharp drop in Japan-bound tourism, especially from Hong Kong, halving bookings at agencies like EGL Tours and prompting airlines to suspend flights to western Japan.
- Seismologist Robert Geller and authorities, including the Japan Meteorological Agency, stressed that scientifically predicting earthquakes remains impossible and warned not to trust specific-date forecasts.
- This episode underscores the economic impact of disaster rumors in Japan's tourism sector and reinforces the need for public reliance on expert scientific advice amid persistent seismic risks.
14 Articles
14 Articles
A Manga Is Causing Earthquake Panic in Japan
Earthquakes can’t be predicted. Scientists agree that precise predictions of a time, place, and magnitude is not possible with current technologies. Yet a years-old Japanese manga that claims a “megaquake”—those above a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale—will strike on July 5 has generated panic and deterred some inbound travelers for the past several months. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The 2021 reprint of The Future I Saw by Ryo Tatsu…
Japanese manga sparks fears of megaquake hitting the Philippines
“The real disaster will come in July 2025,” followed by “the ocean floor between Japan and the Philippines will crack,” aren’t exactly very comforting words to see on a book said to have previously and accurately predicted natural disasters. “The Future That I Saw” by Ryo Tatsuki, first published in 1999, gained notoriety after a baseless premonition, “massive disaster in March 2011,” ended up coinciding with the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsuna…
The manga artist who has prophesied a superquake in Japan on July 5
Manga artist Ryo Tatsuki wrote in her 2021 work ‘The Future I Saw’ about a crack forming beneath the sea between Japan and the Philippines, which she claimed would trigger a tsunami three times more powerful than the one in 2011. The prediction has gone viral, especially after a small island in southern Japan recently recorded over 1,000 tremors. Some airlines have also cancelled flights from Hong Kong, where passenger numbers have seen the stee…
FOCUS: Manga quake "prophecies" keeping H.K. travelers away from Japan
Kyoto-based academic German Cheung adopted a "better safe than sorry" approach to the prospect of an earthquake in Japan in early July, despite having traveled to his hometown in Hong Kong just two months earlier.
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