Japan: Travelers are fleeing the country because of this prophetic manga

Forget The Simpsons and Nostradamus, it's a manga's turn to predict the future. Published in 1999, The Future I Saw has been hailed as prophetic since the 2011 earthquake in Japan it predicted actually happened. As she announces a new natural disaster, travelers flee the country, convinced that it will really happen.

The Future I Saw, the crystal ball manga

In 1999, when Ryo Tatsuki's manga was first published, the mangaka described a major disaster that was supposed to occur in March 2011. Twelve years later, whether by chance or true prediction, Northern Japan is hit by a deadly earthquake that will kill 18,000 people and injure thousands more. Not to mention the structural damage that disfigures the Pacific coast of Tōhoku where the earthquake occurred. And now, the second version of The Future I Saw, published in 2021, the "complete" version of the work, predicts another catastrophe for this year: the next major earthquake is expected to occur in July. Ryo Tatsuki announced in his manga that a crack would open in the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, which would create waves on the shore "three times higher" than those of the Tohoku earthquake. According to our colleagues at CNN, these terrifying predictions for the summer of 2025 have repercussions for tourism in Japan.

Tourists scared by the prediction of The Future I Saw

On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced a massive 9.1 magnitude earthquake.

This catastrophic incident, also referred to as the Great East Japan Earthquake or the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, resulted in extensive destruction and initiated a significant tsunami, which in turn… pic.twitter.com/mZldqz1Shr

— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) January 9, 2024

According to the American site, summer reservations in Japan have decreased significantly. CN Yuen, the general manager of a Hong Kong-based travel agency, told CNN that bookings to the Land of the Rising Sun fell by half during the Easter holidays, and the trend is not about to reverse. China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Vietnam are all Asian countries that are sensitive to The Future I Saw and are willing to believe its author's predictions, and therefore cancel their trips to Japan. While CNN points out that seismologists have long warned that it is "almost impossible to accurately predict when an earthquake might occur," the author herself has responded to this wave of panic. In an interview with the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, she said she was "happy that her works have helped people better prepare for disasters" but urged her readers not to be "too influenced by her dreams and to act appropriately based on expert advice." And to learn more about earthquakes, click here.