Just two days before the exact date (July 5, 2025) that manga artist Ryo Tatsuki predicted in her cult novel The Future I Saw, Japan was rattled by a 5.5-magnitude earthquake on Thursday. The quake’s bizarre closeness to the predicted disaster has revived curiosity in the so-called “Baba Vanga of Japan” and led to an outcry online (especially among travelers who have started canceling trips out of fear) even though there was no major harm or tsunami warning that came next.
The epicenter of the earthquake was in Kagoshima, off the coast of the Tokara island chain, roughly 745 miles from Tokyo, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency. With over 900 tremors in two weeks, locals of Akusei Island said they were not able to sleep after going through the most powerful seismic magnitude “6 lower” on Japan’s 1–7 scale.
Although officials have repeatedly said that there is “no cause for concern,” people who follow Tatsuki’s predictions (some of which, miraculously, were in line with historical events) find it hard to overlook the symbolic timing of the earthquake.
Who Is Ryo Tatsuki, and Why Are Her Predictions Spooking Japan Tourists?
The Future I Saw, by manga artist Ryo Tatsuki, has been compared to the mysterious Baba Vanga. Initially published in 1999 and updated in 2021, the book is based on Tatsuki’s “prophetic dreams.”
In March 2011, specifically the month of the Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami, and the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, one of the most horrific events in modern Japanese history, the book famously included a prediction of a massive calamity.
In the past few weeks, social media has been shaken by Tatsuki’s announcement in the updated edition that July 5, 2025, was to be the date of an even more serious tragedy. Following similar predictions from conspiracy forums and psychic circles, many of which forecast an awful “megaquake” was coming in the area this week, internet discourse grew even more.
🇯🇵 MEGAQUAKE MANGA PANIC GOES VIRAL
A 1999 manga by Ryo Tatsuki predicts a July 2025 megaquake – and millions online are taking it seriously.
Social media’s freaking out over “The Future I Saw,” which claims a tsunami wipes out Japan and hits Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the… pic.twitter.com/Y2qnu7UvoW
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) May 27, 2025
Panic appears to be winning, even though Tatsuki has openly urged that people shouldn’t take her guesses too seriously. According to ABC News, Hong Kong Airlines has canceled all of its flights to Kagoshima and Kumamoto in July and August, and a few tourists have already canceled the reservations they made.
Regional tourism officials are still anxious, even after travel agencies countered with discounts. Yoshihiro Murai, the governor of Miyagi prefecture, said, “It would be a significant issue if unfounded rumors on social media impacted tourism.”
Experts Slam the Panic as Flights Drop and Social Media Buzzes
Governmental groups and seismic researchers have called for peace of mind. Last month, the Cabinet Office Disaster Prevention Division of Japan laid out on X (formerly Twitter) that “with current scientific knowledge, it is difficult to predict an earthquake by specifying its date, time, and location. (…) Earthquakes can occur at any time.”
They brought up that, in spite of predictions made on TikTok or in books, earthquakes can happen at any time.
Yet, the coincidence is creepy enough to scare many people in Asia’s spiritual and superstitious travel market. Baba Vanga’s 2025 warning about worldwide earthquakes is making headlines again, so it’s no surprise that anxiety is widespread.
“The world is going to end, and humanity’s inevitable downfall and extinction is set to start in the year 2025, according to an alleged prediction by the late Bulgarian mystic and soothsayer Baba Vanga” pic.twitter.com/J8ldZtW5mi
— Jay Anderson (@TheProjectUnity) July 8, 2024
Others think Tatsuki also predicted the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Tatsuki is still a hesitant oracle. She keeps telling readers to follow scientists rather than reading fantasy books. But some people are anxiously looking at the calendar as July 5 nears and the earth in southern Japan keeps on rumble.
