As strong waves surged across the vast Pacific on Wednesday, people all over the world remained glued to their phones, tracking the rapid advances in the tsunami.
However, in China, over a million people were looking for an unusual term: “prophecy.”
This is because, to some, it seemed that natural disasters were predicted four years ago in Japanese comic books.
Published in 2021 by artist Ryotzki – fans say her previous works have also prophesied similarly – the manga claims that the next major earthquake will be a hit this July, sparking viral internet memes and debate in most of Asia in recent months.
In China, the search term associated with Tatsuki’s so-called “prophecy” won over 1.1 million views on the video app Douyin shortly after Wednesday’s Pacific Tsunami.
“Will Ryocki’s predictions for the July disaster come true?” The headline for Wednesday’s article was executed in Hong Kong newspapers.
The manga has gained enthusiastic support since its publication in 2021. However, fans were anticipating the arrival of obvious predictions from the author, which became a cultural phenomenon in most Asia earlier this year, with many canceling their summer trips to Japan.
Some tourists are ready to go home in peace after the Wednesday event caused minimal damage. But others are on the edge and are determined to be far apart for now.
“I’m getting goosebumps!” I wrote one Japanese user on X following the massive 8.8 earthquake.
Andrea Wang, a 25-year-old Chinese traveler, canceled his trip to Japan in April, and the manga called her “worried about the risks of my life.” The tsunami is currently dying, but she has no plans to travel to Japan for the rest of 2025, she told CNN on Friday.
It is impossible to project accurately beforehand if an earthquake could be attacked, and seismologists have strongly warned against believing in the increasing number of so-called predictions. In an interview with Japanese media in May, even Tatsuki herself urged people not to “overshake” her dreams.
But the valence of debate proves the cartoon’s harsh grip on the popular imagination, which amplified bullying in both Asia and social media, especially in seismic Japan, where constant threats of earthquakes and tsunamis are looming heavily on the popular imagination.
Many people were injured in the 2011 Tohoku disaster when the earthquake caused a devastating tsunami wave that caused the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. The disaster has resulted in more than 22,000 deaths or disappearances. It was then embedded in the national spirit, and Japanese infants conduct earthquake training from when they can walk, and the government regularly warns them of earthquakes in the next century.
Tatsuki’s manga depicts a cartoon version of her own Greening Vision from her Slumbers. Some fans believe she predicted the death of Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury, but skeptics are so vague that she is vague to take seriously.
The trembling of 2011 boosted Tatsuki’s supposed belief in science. Her 1999 manga, “The Future I Saw,” is on the cover of “The Large-scale Disaster in March 2011.” Many believe they predicted an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude more than a decade before they hit Tohoku.
In a follow-up in 2021, Tatsuki warned that an earthquake in the Philippine Sea on July 5th this year would cause three times the height of the tsunami waves.
Ultimately, Wednesday’s earthquake struck thousands of kilometers from the predicted epicenter, with the highest recorded wave in Japan measuring only 4.3 feet, much lower than the 30-foot wave seen in 2011.
However, many travelers like King have decided not to seize their chance in the last few months, canceling their trip to Japan, pointing to similar warnings from the psychics in Japan and Hong Kong.
CN Yuen, managing director of Hong Kong-based travel agency WWPKG, said that bookings for Japan tours fell by about 70% in June and July compared to last year.
Oscar Chu, a 36-year-old traveler from Hong Kong, has also decided not to go this summer despite visiting Japan multiple times, usually in the year. “I’m not saying I was 100% certain (about forecasts), but I won’t amortize that possibility,” he told CNN on Friday.
When July 5 passed without incident, he said some of his friends had booked a flight to Japan the following day.
He headed there a few weeks later and accidentally bought a ticket on Wednesday morning, just before receiving the news of the tsunami. But he’s still going. “You can’t avoid going for the rest of your life,” he said.
But not everyone is at ease. Several of Chu’s friends, who like him, love visiting Japan, have taken precautions such as avoiding coastal areas and skipping beaches.
They are not the only ones to be wary of “big things” on the horizon. Wednesday’s tsunami highlighted the vulnerability of millions of people living on coastlines around the Pacific Ocean, where the seismically active “Ring of Fire” has produced many of the world’s most powerful earthquakes.
Despite the science still remains contested, Japan’s fears have been rising since the government’s recent warning that a massive earthquake could hit the Valley of South Nankai within the next 30 years.
The Nanjing trough is a 700-kilometer (435 miles) long subduction zone with one tectonic plate being another. According to the Japanese government’s Earthquake Research Committee, serious earthquakes are recorded every 100 to 200 years in line with this obstacle.
The last such earthquake took place in 1944 and 1946, killing at least 2,500 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes.
The Japanese government has repeatedly warned that there is a 70-80% chance that Japan will be shaken by an earthquake in another South Ankai Trough within 30 years, and many scientists have questioned the accuracy of that probability.
Regardless of the reliability of the prediction, the nation is highly wary and kicks it into gear every time an earthquake hits it. This highly effective, sophisticated warning system was on display this week when local governments issued evacuation warnings and urged more than 2 million residents to seek high altitudes in high-risk areas along the coastline.
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When a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck southern Japan last August, authorities responded as quickly as possible, slowing down trains and warning of potential tsunami warnings, but ultimately there was no major damage.
Whether Wednesday’s trembling was what Tatsuki was supposed to be in Tatsuki’s manga, public vigilance about potential disasters will remain in Japan ever since the waves recede this week.
“It’s because of (Tatsuki’s) warnings, but it encouraged more people to start paying attention to earthquake risks in advance, improving their awareness of disaster prevention, learning relevant knowledge, and preparing emergency supplies.”
“People’s vigilance is increasing and in itself is very important.”
