Fall in tourists to Japan is blamed on manga that predicted deadly quake

A grim prediction made in a manga first published a quarter of a century ago is being blamed for a dramatic fall in holiday bookings to Japan from several Asian countries.

- Justin McCurry

Flight reservations to Japan from some of its key tourism markets have reportedly plummeted. Some have linked the fall to The Future I Saw, a Japanese graphic novel based on the "prophetic" dreams of its author, Ryo Tatsuki.

The cover of the original, published in 1999, refers to a "great disaster" occurring in March 2011 – the date Japan experienced a deadly earthquake and tsunami. In a new edition containing additional material that was published in 2021, Tatsuki said the next major disaster would occur on 5 July 2025. Her claim has fuelled sensationalist social media posts warning people to stay away from Japan.

While there is no scientific basis for the claims that are fuelling online speculation, Tatsuki's dreams have been given credence by her previous reference to March 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami killed more than 18,000 people in north-east Japan and triggered the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.