A frightening prediction from a woman called the “New Babavanga” has urged some tourists to cancel their trip to holiday hotspots, which have been dubbed in the past among the world's most friendly countries. Baba Vanga, a blind Bulgarian mystic who died in 1996, is said to have predicted events such as the 9/11 attack, Princess Diana's death, and Barack Obama's first election as black president.
Some view Ryo as the Japanese answer to the famous prophet. The cartoon artist published “The Future I Saw” in 1999. She appears to have accurately predicted the earthquake that hit the Tohoku area in March 2011. The earthquake caused a tsunami, killing tens of thousands of people and collided with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Nuclear Power Plant, causing the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
Her next forecast was that an earthquake would occur in July 2025. She warned that “if a crack opens under the seabed between Japan and the Philippines, it will send terrestrial waves three times higher, according to CNN.”
Other “psychics” in Japan and Hong Kong reflect these warnings, causing panic online. The “prediction” of these earthquakes led to superstitious tourists, particularly in East Asia, cancelling or delaying holidays.
CN Yuen, managing director of Hong Kong-based travel agency WWPKG, said bookings to Japan are expected to halve Easter and half, with more soaking in the next two months.
The anxiety caused by these prophecies has, according to Yuen, become “stained.” He added, “People are just saying they want to hold back their trips for now.”
Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reported last week that Tatsuki liked that her work made people more prepared for disasters, but she urged her to “overshake” her dreams and “act appropriately based on expert opinions.”
Fear of “big things” has been growing since the Japanese government warned in January that there was an 80% chance of a severe earthquake that would hit the valley of Nanjing within 30 years.
However, some seismologists are critical of these warnings and question whether they can be accurate. Robert Geller, a seismologist and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, called the Nanjing earthquake a “created construct” and a “purely hypothetical scenario.”
He argued that earthquakes do not occur in cycles, but can occur at any time and at any time. This means there is very little point to calculate when the next earthquake will occur based on previous times.
Japan is nominated as one of the world's most friendly countries, ranked by Condé Nast as the sixth friendly country worldwide with a score of 93.25 in 2024.
