A Japanese comic book prophesies a “real disaster”. A medium provides for a massive disaster. A Feng Shui teacher urges people to stay away.

It may sound like a plot of destruction film, but for the Japan tourism industry, a recent series of so -called “forecasts” such as those related to earthquakes has led more superstitious tourists, especially East Asia, to cancel or delay their vacation.

As CNN points out, seismologists have long warned that accurate prediction of when an earthquake may occur It’s almost impossible. Japan is a country with a good history of endurance even in strong earthquakes, and the prospect of a major earthquake is something that its population lives on a daily basis.

But the fear of a “great earthquake”, reinforced by both the “bad guys” and social media, makes some tourists hesitate. And for many, One is the comic that scares them.

Published by artist manga Rio Tatsuki in 1999, the book ‘The Future I Saw’ (“The Future I Watch”) warned of a major disaster in March 2011, a date that proved to be coincided with the devastating earthquake that hit the north Tohoko area of ​​Japan that month.

His “full version”, released in 2021, claims that the next major earthquake It will hit this July.

At the same time, mediums from Japan and Hong Kong have made similar warnings, causing an internet unpleasant panic that has led to a series of cancellations in destinations in the area.

Xen Yuen, chief executive of WWPKG, a Hong Kong -based travel agency, told CNN that reservations for Japan have fallen by half during Easter holidays and are expected to decline further in the next two months.

The speculations have mainly scared tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong, which are the second and fourth largest source of Japan tourists, respectively. But fear has spread to other markets, such as Thailand and Vietnam, where social media platforms … are overflowing with posts and videos that warn people to think about it before traveling to Japan.

“The Courts”

Japan is in the so -called ‘Ring of Fire’, An area of ​​intense seismic and volcanic activity on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Fears of a “big” earthquake have been intensified since January, so the Japanese government has warned that there is an 80% chance of a strong earthquake hitting Nanki rift within 30 years. Some seismologists have criticized these warnings, questioning whether they can be accurate.

Tatsuki’s work has an important audience in East Asia and his fans often believe that he can see precisely future events in her dreams.

In manga, she paints a cartoonist version of herself, where she shares visions that she collects in her sleep with other characters. Some of these dreams turn out that They have a great resemblance to real facts.

The prediction – or coincidence – of the 2011 earthquake made Tatsuki famous not only in Japan but also in other parts of Asia, such as Thailand and China. The comic has sold 900,000 copies, according to its publisher. It has also been issued in Chinese.

Fans also believe that she also predicted the deaths of Princess Diana and singer Freddie Mercury, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic, but critics say her visions are too vague to take seriously.

Manga’s cover bears the words “huge disaster in March 2011”, leading many to believe that it predicted the earthquake of 9 Richter more than a decade before hitting toch.

The earthquake caused a murderous tsunami that killed tens of thousands And it destroyed Fukushima Daiji Nuclear Drawing Station, resulting in the worst nuclear accident than Chernobyl.

In the latest edition, “The Future I saw (full edition)”, Tatsuki warned that on July 5th of this year, a crack will open under the seabed between Japan and Philippines, sending waves three times higher than those of the Tohoko earthquake.

The author was recently asked what she thought about the canceled trips that came from readers’ interpretations of her book.

The Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported last week that while seeing “very positive” the fact that her work has made people more prepared for disaster, urged them not to be “overly affected” by her dreams and to “act properly on the basis of experts”.

However, many tourists remain unstoppable.

Japan has seen the number of visitors grow on the record of 10.5 million in the first three months of 2025, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Meanwhile, 2.36 million tourists from mainland China visited Japan in the first quarter of this year, showing an increase of 78% compared to last year, the tourism organization said.

During the same period, about 647,600 Hong Kong residents visited Japan, with a total increase of 3.9% on an annual basis.

And these numbers only concern tourists from East Asia.

In March alone, 343,000 Americans visited Japan, along with 68,000 Canadians and 85,000 Australians.

Hong Kong’s Vick Singh is among those who have not changed their plans. Although he has heard of “prophecy”, he said he insisted on his vacation in Japan this year. Visits Tokyo and Osaka in June.

‘The predictions of earthquakes were never accurate’, he said.

Even if an earthquake happens, “Japan has faced many strong earthquakes in the past. Things should not be so bad about disaster management, “he added.