Apocalyptic manga fails to deter Koreans from traveling to Japan

A staff member arranges a copy of "The Future I Saw," a comic book by manga artist Ryo Tatsuki, on a shelf at the Village Vanguard bookstore in Tokyo, June 30. Reuters-Yonhap

Sensational speculation about an impending disaster in Japan sparked by a 1999 comic book has had only a limited impact on Korean travel demand this year, according to travel industry officials.

Representatives from Korea’s two largest travel agencies, Hana Tour and Mode Tour, told The Korea Times that the number of prebooked customers for July ― rumored to be the month of a doomsday-like natural disaster ― was only slightly lower compared to the same period in 2024.

“So far, the number of bookings was just slightly lower for July, with no noticeable change in the number of cancellations,” a Hana Tour official told The Korea Times.

An official at Mode Tour said demand for travel to Japan has remained steady among vacationers, despite the doomsday prediction linked to the manga “The Future I Saw: Complete Edition” by Japanese artist Ryo Tatsuki.

The author became famous after a previous version of the same manga predicted a “great disaster” in March 2011 ― the same month Japan suffered the 9.0-magnitude Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

“The number of bookings decreased this year, but not by more than 5 percent,” the official said. “With that, I would say the impact of the rumors has been limited.”

In fact, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, more than 11 million people traveled between Korea and Japan in the first five months of 2025, a 10.7 percent increase from the same period in 2024.

Japan has welcomed a record number of foreign visitors this year, but arrivals from some places — including Hong Kong, one of its largest sources of tourists — have dropped by more than 10 percent. Some travel agents have attributed the decline in part to rumors sparked by the comic book.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world due to its location on the Pacific’s seismically hyperactive “ring of fire.” But experts say it is not scientifically possible to accurately predict the timing and location of quakes.