Manga predicting a major disaster this July affecting summer tourism numbers

Flights to/from Hong Kong affected by predictions on both ends of the routes.

In July 1999, manga author Ryo Tatsuki published Watashi ga Mita Mirai (The Future I Saw) which was based on her own dream journal she had been keeping for years. In the manga, she explains how the dreams have often had connections to real-life incidents in the future and one particularly unsettling dream involved a major tsunami.

The book received little mainstream attention until sometime after the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami on 11 March 2011. The story of Watashi ga Mita Mirai itself doesn’t specifically mention the date or location of its envisioned major tsunami, but on the cover, a flurry of pages from her dream journal are illustrated, with one reading “A Big Disaster on March 2011.”

▼ The date can be seen on the third page from the right

That was enough to lend credit to Tatsuki’s prophetic dreams and the manga’s popularity spread like wildfire, with it being featured on every major television network. Some people also took advantage of Tatsuki’s reclusive nature by impersonating her online and spreading their own predictions. This led to her releasing Watashi ga Mita Mirai Kanzenban (The Future I Saw: The Complete Edition) in 2021, which in addition to the original story, included addendums that clarified the reference to March 2011 and gave another grave prediction.

In the book, Tatsuki explains that she originally wasn’t sure if there was a connection between the date and the tsunami in the story, but she knew that was an important date so she included it on the cover. She also says that the next major disaster will take place on 5 July, 2025.

It’s a rather large leap of faith to believe her dreams are prophetic rather than coincidental imagination, but it’s a leap that some are willing to take as the effect of Watashi ga Mita Mirai can be seen in tourism forecasts this summer. In Hong Kong, where the book became rather popular, Greater Bay Airlines has announced they would reduce flights to and from Japan because of lower demand than usual. After noticing that reservations were 30 percent lower than expected, they investigated the cause and feel it was because of prophecies that a major disaster would occur.

Not only the manga, but a popular feng shui expert in Hong Kong also declared that a large earthquake would strike Japan sometime between June and August. This has prompted a response from Miyagi Prefecture Governor Yoshihiro Murai who said, “I think it’s a problem that this information, based on rather unscientific evidence, is spreading on social media and having an impact on tourism.” Governor Masazumi Gotoda of Tokushima Prefecture also pointed out that these kinds of disasters can happen anywhere at any time and all we can do is always be prepared.

It’s worth noting that in Japan there’s a fairly steady stream of people calling for the next big one to happen sometime soon, and oftentimes book sales are involved. This is likely why online comments about this are filled with a sense of exasperation and cynicism.

“Gee, thanks a lot, occult YouTubers.”
“Here comes Tatsuki again. It’s amazing so many people believe this stuff.”
“She’s making quite an impact. I wonder how sales are doing.”
“Why does she only predict disasters?”
“Great, now I have to lose my virginity by July.”
“Just calling it a ‘great disaster’ is comfortably vague, isn’t it?”
“Considering all this overtourism, I’d say she’s doing us a favor.”
“If she’s right about this one, I’ll believe her. Otherwise, she can take a hike.”

Two really is the magic number that few — if any — earthquake predictors have managed to achieve. Even those who claim to be able to predict them by scientific means tend to fall flat on their second attempt. So, it’s probably safe to say that you wouldn’t be taking ay greater risk visiting Japan on 5 July as you would on any other day.

That being said, this prediction business does have way better odds than the lottery, so let me just throw out there that I predict Japan will have its first female Prime Minister in 2028.

There, now I’ll just cross my fingers and wait for the book deal to come my way.

Source: The Sankei Shimbun, Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Pakutaso
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