Manga's July 2025 Disaster Forecast Sparks Fear, Alters Japan Travel Plans

A lesser-known manga has recently captured attention in Japan and beyond. In “The Future I Saw,” creator Ryo Tatsuki predicts a catastrophic natural disaster striking Japan in July 2025. This forecast has prompted some travelers to cancel their summer trips to Japan, fueling widespread discussion on Japanese social media. What drives belief in Tatsuki’s prophecy? And how has an upcoming Japanese horror film become entangled in the resulting unease?

Ryo Tatsuki’s manga, “The Future I Saw,” first appeared in 1999. It portrays Tatsuki as a character, drawing from dream diaries she has maintained since 1985. The 1999 edition’s cover depicts her character covering one eye, with postcards overhead alluding to her claimed visions. One postcard warns of “March 2011: A Great Disaster.” Following the catastrophic Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011, Tatsuki’s manga gained renewed interest, with out-of-print copies fetching high prices at auctions.

In 2021, Tatsuki released an updated “The Future I Saw: Complete Edition,” introducing a new prophecy: a massive disaster in July 2025, with a tsunami three times larger than the 2011 event. Given her earlier prediction’s apparent accuracy, news of this 2025 warning spread rapidly across Japanese social media.

Reports suggest Tatsuki’s July 2025 prediction has led some superstitious individuals to avoid traveling to Japan this summer, particularly in Hong Kong, where the manga is available in translation. According to Sankei Shimbun and CNN, Hong Kong-based fortune-teller Master Seven has amplified Tatsuki’s prophecy, suggesting heightened earthquake risks in Japan from June to August.

Japanese television has highlighted responses from Hong Kong-based airlines. ANN News and other broadcasters reported that Hong Kong Airlines canceled its three weekly flights to Sendai, a city heavily affected in 2011. Similarly, Greater Bay Airlines is cutting flights from Hong Kong to Sendai and Tokushima between May and October, citing reduced travel demand linked to the disaster prediction and economic concerns. At an April press conference, Miyagi Prefecture’s governor, Yoshihiro Murai, dismissed the predictions as “unscientific” and encouraged tourists to disregard them.

Heightened media coverage has thrust “The Future I Saw” back into the spotlight. On May 23, reports indicated the Complete Edition sold over 1 million copies. This surge coincides with the upcoming film “July 5, 2025, 4:18 AM,” set to premiere in Japan on June 27. The movie, inspired by Tatsuki’s July 2025 prediction, follows a protagonist whose birthday falls on July 5, with strange events unfolding. Media attention on the manga likely boosts the film’s visibility.

However, some Japanese social media posts and videos have misreported the movie’s title as the exact date and time of the predicted disaster, blending scientific earthquake data with sensationalized warnings. Publisher Asuka Shinsha issued a statement clarifying: “We stress that the author (Tatsuki) did not specify the date and time in the movie title. We urge the public to avoid being misled by incomplete information in media and social platforms.”

Japan frequently faces natural disasters, from earthquakes and tsunamis to floods and landslides. While Tatsuki’s prophecy lacks scientific backing, it taps into a real, evidence-based concern. Seismologists estimate a 70-80% chance of a Nankai Trough megaquake striking Japan within the next 30 years, according to Asahi News and Kobe University. Revised government projections from March 2025 estimate such a quake could claim 300,000 lives and trigger massive tsunamis, affecting major cities. Fearful posts often merge Tatsuki’s prediction with these scientific scenarios. Yet, the Japan Meteorological Agency labels precise earthquake predictions as “hoaxes” on its homepage, noting that exact dates and locations remain unpredictable. Tatsuki’s 2011 prediction may have been a fortunate coincidence.

Many Japanese-speaking users on X have criticized the media frenzy surrounding Tatsuki’s prophecy. One user remarked, “It’s foolish to trust disaster predictions from a manga. The Nankai Trough quake could strike anytime.” Tatsuki herself addressed the attention, stating she is glad if her manga has spurred disaster preparedness but advises against overreacting, urging reliance on expert guidance (Mainichi Shimbun).