Hong Kong Airlines to Suspend All Flights on Certain Routes from September
Feng Shui Masters Join in After "Mega Earthquake Prophecy" Manga
The aftermath of the "July Japan Mega Earthquake Theory" continues to linger in Hong Kong.
According to Kyodo News on the 28th, Hong Kong airlines are successively reducing or suspending flights to Japan. All international scheduled flights connecting Hong Kong with Yonago and Tokushima will be suspended from September, and all flights to Kagoshima and Kumamoto will also be canceled throughout July and August.
Yuen Zhenning, who is in charge of Japan at a Hong Kong travel agency, said, "Many people are thinking, 'Let's give up on traveling to Japan this year,'" adding, "The number of tourists visiting Japan from June to August is expected to drop to about 20% of previous years." He also noted, "It will take time for the numbers to recover to the levels seen at the beginning of the year."
The origin of the "July Mega Earthquake Theory" is considered to be the manga "The Future I Saw: Complete Edition." Based on the content of this manga, rumors such as "There will be a catastrophe on July 5th" began to spread on Hong Kong social networking services (SNS). The theory gained further traction as Hong Kong feng shui masters joined in, fueling the spread of earthquake rumors about Japan.
In the manga "The Future I Saw: Complete Edition," published in 2021 by Japanese manga artist Ryo Tatsuki, it is stated that "a true catastrophe will come in July 2025." The manga describes, "Suddenly, the seabed between Japan and the Philippines erupted (in a dream). As a result, huge waves spread out in all directions from the sea surface, causing tsunamis in countries around the Pacific." Tatsuki gained fame for allegedly predicting the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake in a manga published in 1996. It is also known that a famous Hong Kong feng shui master mentioned, "The risk of earthquakes in Japan will increase from June to August." Such predictions have rapidly spread in Hong Kong through SNS and other channels.
Kyodo News: "Media Control Weakens Trustworthy Media, Boosts SNS Influence and Information Spread"
Kyodo News analyzed, "Due to media control, the influence of trusted media has weakened, and the influence of SNS has grown, making it easier for unverifiable information to spread. This appears to be part of the background."
Previously, Greater Bay Airlines, a Hong Kong low-cost carrier, had already reduced some flights connecting Hong Kong with Sendai and Tokushima in Japan from mid-May. A representative of the airline explained that they had expected a load factor of around 80% for these routes from late March to April, but it actually reached only 40%. At that time, the Japanese government attempted to quell the rumors early by stating that earthquake prediction is impossible, but this had little effect. In April, Japan's Cabinet Office stated on its disaster prevention information X (formerly Twitter) account, "It is currently impossible to predict the specific time and place of an earthquake based on scientific knowledge."
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