Japan’s Volcano Eruption Revives Talk of Manga Prophecy

Thick grey ash poured into the sky as Mount Shinmoedake erupted once again, painting an eerie scene in southern Japan. For many locals, it was a familiar but still frightening sight. But this time, something else was brewing alongside the smoke: fear fed by fiction.

As lava lit up the midnight sky and plumes of smoke reached 3,000 metres high, social media lit up with comparisons to a manga. Not just any manga-but one by artist Ryo Tatsuki, known for uncanny predictions. Years ago, she penned a story about a massive disaster set in 2025. A part of it, readers noted, mentioned unsettling events in early June. Now, with a real volcano erupting and the ground shaking, fans began to wonder: Was fiction becoming reality?

Just a day after the eruption, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit Kyushu. Over 1,000 small tremors have rattled the region in the past two weeks. On nearby islands, evacuations began. The tension was rising-not just in the earth, but in the public's imagination.

Officials urged calm. "Don't fall for rumours," they said, reminding people that predictions in manga are not facts. Tatsuki herself denied forecasting a disaster on July 5, 2025.

But the damage was done-at least for Japan's tourism industry. After a record-breaking 3.9 million visitors in April, numbers dipped in May. Travel agents, especially in Hong Kong, said clients were wary of visiting Japan this summer.