A recent volcano eruption in Japan has prompted a heightened alert and renewed discussions around an unsettling prediction made years ago by manga artist and illustrator Ryo Tatsuki. As uncanny images of smoke and ash swamped social media, many turned their attention to an eerie doomsday prophecy detailed at length in Tatsuki's 1999 manga work entitled "The Future I Saw," which forecasts a "mega disaster" on 5 July 2025. With the timing being so alarmingly close to the volcanic activity, online discourse has intensified—drawing comparisons to Balkan mystic Baba Vanga and sparking a wave of speculation, fear, and disbelief.
Earlier this week, Japan’s Mount Shinmoedake witnessed an eruption sending a plume of ash nearly 2 km into the sky. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) immediately issued alerts urging caution to residents and suspending access around the volcano’s crater. Though no injuries or major damages were reported, the eruption, coming so close to the date in the prognostications of a two-decade-old manga prophecy, stirred curiosity and unsettled netizens far beyond Japan.
Japan, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, experiences regular seismic and volcanic activity, but the coincidence in timing with a well-known illustrated prediction has captured imaginations globally.
Ryo Tatsuki is a little-known manga artist who published ‘The Future I Saw’ in 1999, a compilation of dreams she allegedly had between 1985 and 1993. The manga, relatively obscure for decades, has resurfaced in the public consciousness owing to a series of twisted events that followers claim align with her dream-based predictions—most notably the Tokyo Olympics being postponed (a forecast that gained traction after the COVID-19 pandemic) and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
What sets her apart is the claim she made about these dreams having been spontaneous and uninvited which she meticulously recorded over the years. According to her accounts, she experienced over 470 predictive dreams, many of which she compiled into illustrated stories in the form of manga—each detailed with a specific date and disaster-type event.
Among the most prominent predictions in the manga ‘The Future I Saw’ is an event earmarked on 5 July 2025. Referred to by Tatsuki simply as a “mega disaster,” the dream imagery reportedly showed large-scale devastation, though it does not specify the exact nature of the catastrophe. Online speculation has ranged from earthquakes and tsunamis to nuclear accidents and now, with the eruption of Mount Otake, volcanic eruptions.
The cryptic nature of the illustration and text has left liberal room for interpretation. Nonetheless, the proximity of the volcanic eruption to the specified date has been enough to tip off viral panic on Japanese social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), with hashtags related to the prophecy trending and netizens exchanging conspiracy theories as well as safety tips.
Tatsuki’s rising popularity in doomsday discourse has led people to draw parallels with Baba Vanga, the blind Bulgarian mystic known for her equally eerie prophecies throughout the 20th century. Vanga’s followers claim that she predicted global events such as 9/11, the Fukushima disaster, and even the rise of ISIS.
Like Vanga, Tatsuki’s predictions are often vague, open to interpretation, and surrounded by mythos. The convergence of pop culture, seismic anxiety, impending climate crisis and doom, and a desire for patterns in chaos has elevated Tatsuki to cult-like status among a certain segment of the public—particularly those already sceptical of governmental transparency in disaster preparedness.
Notwithstanding the hue and cry over the natural disaster and the myth peddling around it, Japan responded to the Mount Otake eruption quickly and systematically. More than 100 active volcanoes in the archipelago are still being monitored by the JMA. The eruption and the anticipated "mega disaster" have not been directly linked, and scientists emphasise that natural disasters are influenced by geological trends rather than prophecies.
Officials also issued statements urging the public to avoid speculation that could heighten anxiety and confusion and to rely on verified information, while reminding citizens of the importance of readiness in a country where nature’s volatility is part of everyday life.
While it is tempting to draw connections between manga prophecies and real-world disasters, experts caution against reading too much into coincidence in a time of crisis. Historical precedents show that apocalyptic predictions often find some event close enough to anchor themselves to—especially in geologically active regions like Japan.
Nevertheless, the psychological power of such forecasts cannot be underestimated. In times of uncertainty, people often turn to alternative sources of foresight for comfort or validation. In Ryo Tatsuki’s case, a 25-year-old dream journal wrapped in manga form has become an unexpected artefact of collective anxiety.
Whether one sees it as prescient or pure chance, the re-emergence of ‘The Future I Saw’ amid real-time volcanic activity highlights the cultural and emotional weight of prophecy in the modern world. As July continues, the lines between documented science and illustrated foresight blur, if only momentarily—leaving behind questions about the narratives we trust when faced with nature’s unpredictability.
Ryo Tatsuki is a Japanese manga artist known for a 1999 comic that claimed to predict future events—including a catastrophic event in 2025.
Tatsuki’s manga mentioned a “mega disaster” in Japan in 2025, leading many to associate it with the current volcanic activity, though no direct correlation is confirmed.
As of now, reports cite volcanic activity in Mount Shinmoedake, causing temporary panic and local evacuations.
No. Authorities and scientists have dismissed any prophetic link, stating the prediction is pure coincidence and not based on any scientific forecast.
The manga is trending online because the timing of the eruption matches the year of the fictional “disaster” in Tatsuki’s comic, sparking widespread curiosity and panic.
