Holiday bookings to Japan reportedly drop after manga predicting July 2025 earthquake

Japan holiday bookings have reportedly dropped due to a "prophetic" manga that predicted an earthquake in 2025.

A manga novel titled "The Future I Saw" published by Ryo Tatsuki in 1999 had warned that a major disaster would occur in March 2011. This date coincided with the 9.0 magnitude quake that struck Japan's Tohoku region.

In 2021, a reprinted full version of the novel was published, with the sentence “The real disaster will come in July 2025.” on the front cover.

Ever since this prediction went viral, airline bookings from Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong have dropped according to an analysis done by Bloomberg.

While overall tourism to Japan is still going strong, Bloomberg Intelligence's analyst for aviation and defence, Eric Zhu says the quake speculations are "definitely" having a "negative impact" on Japan tourism.

According to CNN, psychics from Japan and Hong Kong have also shared similar warnings. This has led to "unfounded panic" and cancelations of travel plans.

They cited a managing director of a travel agency based in Hong Kong, as saying bookings to Japan dropped by half during the Easter holiday and "are expected to dip further in the coming two months".

However, Japan Meteorological Agency director general Ryoichi Nomura has stepped up to dismiss the rumours.

He stated that it is "impossible to predict an earthquake with specific timing, location or its magnitude", and "any such prediction is a hoax, and there is absolutely no need to worry about such disinformation".

CNN cited a tourist from Hong Kong who succinctly explained why he hadn't changed his plans even though he had heard "the prophecy".

“Earthquake predictions have never been accurate,” he said. And even if one did hit, he noted that since Japan has encountered "massive earthquakes" before, their disaster management "shouldn't be too bad".

Such unfounded predictions are probably made due to Japan's long-standing reputation as one of the world's most quake-prone countries.

An actual scientifically-backed concern though is the possibility of a mega quake happening in the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years. An event that has an around 80 per cent chance of occurring in the coming decades. A megaquake that Japan is actively preparing for.

Top photos via Canva, Kinokuniya