Ryo Tatsuki is a well known Japanese manga artist whose most known/famous work is “The Future I Saw” (Watashi ga Mita Mirai published in 1999) where that manga depicted the “log” of the dreams that she has been having since the 70’s. Some of the more known “dreams/predictions” that ended up happening were the deaths of Princess Diana (7 years prior) and Freddy Mercury of Queen (15 years prior but no exact date pinned on it) as well as the Great East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami of 2011. Some (not Tatsuki herself) have tried to use pretzel logic to tie the COVID pandemic to something she also dreamed about. Tatsuki herself isn’t always confident in many of these either using phrases akin to possibly, maybe, perhaps, I’m not sure, etc. Basically, anyone can write up lists of vague predictions and eventually have a few of them pan out. Tatsuki herself mentions a lot of this is often symbolic not meant to be taken literally.
She eventually ended up (re)publishing a best seller in 2021 (over 400K sold) called “The Complete Edition of the Future I Saw” which also included newer dreams for several possible events (depicted again in manga format) including the ones pertinent to this post; ones taking place in July 2025 (around the 5th JST) that could affect Japan (and other countries). This includes a gigantic meteorite impacting into the Philippine Sea or megaquake occurring in that vicinity (with a mega tsunami impacting Japan plus other countries), a Nankai Trough earthquake and Mt Fuji eruption occurring simultaenously.
The Nankai Trough megaquake is long known to scientists (heightened awareness took place last summer when a large quake struck off of Kyushu) where that first megaquake advisory got the attention of the population. As for a Mt. Fuji eruption, that one has also been long talked about (the last major eruption was the Hoei eruption in 1707). The following report was from back in 2001.
Not long after the Great East Japan Earthquake, there was research performed showing that this massive quake/aftershocks could have an impact for an eruption of Mt Fuji in the near future. In the past, geologists used to push the line about seismological events being distinct from each other. Larger scale events however could have an indirect impact (something the scale of a Nankai Trough triple junction megaquake is one of those events). Japanese scientists have long had the probability of a Nankai Trough megaquake happening in the next 30 years as 80%. But I digress.
Tatsuki’s “prediction” from one of her dreams for July 2025, translates into something like “a massive earthquake off the Philippines in the Philippines Sea that will cause a tsunami three times larger than the one from the Great East Japan Earthquake to strike the archipelagos of Japan”. Part of that dream included “two dragons heading towards the epicenter”. Using the underwater topology of Google Earth, Tatsuki noticed the silhouettes of two areas on the ocean floor from near the international dateline to the Hawaiian Islands that looked like the two dragons in her dream (as in the image at the top of this post). For me, the bottom one has a dragon-like aspect but the top one just looks like a blob (the point is that confirmation bias is a thing plus our brain has ways to trick us into seeing things we want to believe).
This one clearly has nothing to do with a Nankai Trough megaquake event. It’s also completely unscientific. Additionally, while some of these dreams have ended up happening, there are also many others that have never occurred (basically, this is people cherrypicking the ones that did end up happening by coincidence versus bringing up the ones that never did). Unsurprisingly, it has led to all sorts of disaster filled rumors and speculations that are causing people to rethink their plans when taken together with what Japanese scientists have long established with both the Nankai Trough megaquake and Mt Fuji eruption scenarios.
In Hong Kong and Taiwan for example, many have been cancelling travel to Japan due to this. Again, it’s not just Tatsuki’s dream driving this, it’s a crossover – which goes to show how social media allows some of this to take on its own life when sensationalist misinformation is added into the algorithmic mix. Obviously, this is having a material impact on agencies, airlines, and hospitality industries in multiple countries. Maybe one of the positives is that at least in Japan, it has many citizens at least re-examining their disaster preparedness for both earthquakes and tsunamis (relative to the Nankai Trough scenario which has historical records of past such megaquakes and the large scale tsunami it generated actually occurring).
Tatsuki herself has taken part in discussions about this where she has stated the following: “My hope is never to create fear. When I depict potential catastrophes, it’s more about offering a glimpse into what could happen if we’re not careful. It’s like a cautionary tale in visual form. If my work inspires even one person to prepare or reflect, then it’s done its job.” I think what makes this hit home more is via that Japanese introspection of “gaman” (我慢) or dealing with personal hardship in a dignified manner.
As a country, Japan is no stranger to natural disasters (typhoons, flooding, landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc). The Japanese have found ways to remain resiliant and as a result, tend to take warnings (whether it be from scientists or from omens) more seriously (yes, there are also those who completely disregard it all as is the case with human nature) while also taking action. Disaster prevention day (防災の日; bousai no hi) in September is still carried out; an outcome of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake. Another simple example is how the EEW (earthquake early warning system) or 緊急地震速報 (kinkyu jishin sokuho) has evolved over time. Quick tangent.
Seismic detection systems were put in place for the shinkansen (which went into operation in 1964) in order to slow it down safely in the event of an earthquake. This system (which was tied into the Japanese Meteorological Agency) was refined over time (taking actual seismic events into account). In 2004 after the Joetsu quake that struck Niigata resulted in the partial derailment of a Joetsu shinkansen, this network of seismographs was strengthened nationwide with that network also tied directly into broadcasters and mobile operators networks. For television broadcasters, an alert would be issued along with standardized announcements (as more granular data rolled in). Similarly, emergency alerts would go off on mobile phones (more so as smartphone technology proliferated from 2010 onwards). The automated braking system on many railcar rolling stock were also modified (both technical advancements and working in conjunction with the seismograph system). This is of course oversimplified as it took decades of experience, research, and refinement for todays system (and no doubt, will see further enhancements whenever something new/different happens).
As for Tatsuki’s dream of something large scale happening around July 5, 2025, I personally view the actuality of the event happening on that very day (let alone the month of July or even in 2025) with skepticism. I’m no stranger to some of the cultural aspects (many Japanese aren’t very religious but have more spiritual beliefs where it’s not a black and white separation). Things like omikuji and omamori are part of this for example. As a nikkeijin, I grew up around that “not very religious” environment but every New Year, we’d get blessed and get new omamori (mainly for the home, car safety and wallet protection). My mom used to do the omikuji fortune (not that she fully believed it; it was more like just part of the ritual to see what it said). Myself, I never took those fortunes (including Japanese yakudoshi or “bad luck years”) seriously since something written on a piece of paper should not be what dictates your actions/life. Nonetheless, I have an omamori in my car and wallet. For myself, it’s the aesthetic part (they look neat) and to serve as reminders that I need to drive carefully and always be mindful of my wallet (plus keys).
If there was an actual way to accurately know what would happen in the future, I wouldn’t want to know because knowing basically robs you of your ability to live life. You would know the successes and failures (no challenges), nothing would be a surprise and you would know every piece of bad news. As it stands now, actions leads to various consequences; events that play out into an unknown future. That unknown is what drives our internal spirit. Similarly, Tatsuki’s dreams fall into this same realm where it is an unscientific prediction of an event happening in a very specific timeframe.
For those who believe in fortune telling and/or are superstitious, it is already driving their actions (like cancelling travel plans to Japan or avoiding going anywhere completely) out of fear of a disaster happening on an exact date. What Tatsuki mentioned in discussions is the pertinent part; being prepared is what is more important. And that part is what is left out in many of these “news” reports because guess what, sensationalism sells more than the boring practicality of being prepared for natural disasters. I know there are many living in Japan who are being more aware and generally having a plan (as it should be since earthquakes and tsunamis are part of living in the country), but not being paralyzed to the point of not living their daily life in July, or that specific day. And what if this dream happens to actually come true? I personally would still rack it up as being coincidence and give high marks to those who were prepared for a natural disaster.
