Ryush Ryo's "Doomsday Prophecy" heats up: Japanese travel drops by 83%, why is the crypto community discussing cold wallets?

Japanese manga artist Ryuju Ryo predicted in “The Future I See” that a major earthquake will occur in the Nankai Trough on July 5, 2025, causing panic in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and surrounding regions. Bloomberg data shows that bookings from Hong Kong to Japan plummeted by 83%, and Taiwan’s Japan tour prices hit a 20-year low. A Facebook group with 250,000 members discusses escape strategies. The Taiwanese crypto community also discusses “escaping with cold wallets” as a disaster prevention measure, predicting the earthquake’s impact on Bitcoin prices.

Ryuju Ryo’s “Doomsday Prediction” Triggers a Tsunami-like Impact on Japan’s Tourism Industry

The impact of Ryuju Ryo’s prediction is especially evident in Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Taking Hong Kong as an example, current bookings for trips to Japan have decreased by an average of 50% annually, with bookings from late June to early July dropping by 83%. This cliff-like decline poses a significant blow to Japan’s tourism industry, as tourists from Hong Kong and Taiwan are major contributors to the Japanese travel market, representing a large high-spending customer base.

According to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of visitors to Japan in May this year reached a record high, except for Hong Kong, which declined. Some Hong Kong airlines have also adjusted or canceled certain summer routes to Japan. Airlines typically plan routes and schedules months in advance; sudden cancellations mean that booking volumes are too low to sustain basic operational costs.

Taiwan travel agencies also note that, influenced by the prediction, “this summer’s Japanese tour prices are the cheapest in the past 20 years,” with at least a 20% reduction in Japanese tour packages across agencies. This price war is a direct reflection of demand collapse. Travel agencies have already paid for seats and hotel reservations, and to recover costs, they can only lower prices and promote sales. However, even with discounts, they struggle to attract enough customers.

Three Major Economic Impacts of Ryuju Ryo’s Prediction

Severe losses in tourism: Bookings from Hong Kong to Japan in early July dropped by 83%, Taiwanese Japan tours decreased by 20%, and airlines canceled routes.

Material hoarding frenzy: Doomsday emergency kits are selling rapidly; camping gear, compressed food, and portable generators are seeing surges in sales, with merchants profiting from panic buying.

Community frenzy discussions: 250,000 people joined doomsday groups, discussing escape routes and outdoor survival, spreading collective hysteria and panic.

The absurdity of this panic economy lies in its foundation on an unscientific prediction. Ryuju Ryo himself denies that July 5 holds any specific significance, stating, “Dream dates are not the same as the date of occurrence,” and implying that this is a result of publisher editors’ compilation. But such clarifications no longer stop the spread of panic.

Why the crypto community discusses the absurd logic of escaping with cold wallets

The most surprising cross-sector impact appears in Taiwan’s crypto social media communities. Discussions about “escaping with cold wallets for disaster prevention” and predictions about the impact on ADA and Bitcoin prices have emerged. Although this reaction is absurd, it reveals the psychological traits of crypto investors: in any crisis, their primary concern is how to protect digital assets.

The logic of escaping with cold wallets is: if a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami truly occur, the banking system might collapse, fiat currency could devalue, and properties might be damaged. But as long as the seed phrase of the cold wallet is safely stored, crypto assets can be recovered after the disaster. This “doomsday survival” mindset views cryptocurrencies as the ultimate refuge of wealth.

However, this logic is flawed. If Ryuju Ryo’s predicted catastrophic disaster occurs (e.g., one-third of Japan destroyed), the global financial system would collapse, and Bitcoin’s value would plummet to zero, because there would be no electricity, no internet, and no exchanges—digital assets would be impossible to liquidate. In a true doomsday scenario, food, drinking water, medicine, and weapons are the hard currencies; Bitcoin in cold wallets would be useless.

Some discussions in Taiwan’s crypto circles even predict “the impact of the earthquake on ADA and Bitcoin prices.” This attempt to link the earthquake with the crypto market follows a chain of logic: Japan is an active crypto trading region → earthquake causes Japanese investors to panic sell → Bitcoin price drops. However, this overlooks the scale of the global crypto market. While Japanese investors are active, they account for only a small part of the global market. Even if the Japanese market halts completely, the impact on global prices would be minimal.

The absurdity of these crypto discussions reflects the “hammer thinking” of crypto investors: holding a hammer, seeing everything as a nail. Any social event is interpreted as potentially affecting crypto prices. This over-interpretation is both a sign of high market attention and a manifestation of anxiety.

Experts Call for Rationality and Realistic Risk Awareness

Japan Meteorological Agency Director explicitly states: “From a modern scientific perspective, it is impossible to predict the exact date, location, or magnitude of earthquakes, so such predictions are rumors, and there is no need to worry.” Former Seismological Center Director Guo Kaiwen said that over the next 30 years, there is about an 80% chance of a large-scale earthquake around Japan, but if the probability shortens to within a week, it drops to only one in a thousand.

The Hong Kong UFO Society’s Secretary-General, Si Tu, cites the 2012 Mayan prophecy as an example. That year, he took four cameras to Lantau Island and filmed for 72 hours, confirming that “the sun, moon, and stars rotate as usual,” and the prophecy did not come true. He recommends the public adopt a proactive attitude, such as reducing carbon emissions and protecting forests, rather than obsessing over doomsday panic.

It is important to clearly distinguish that the risk of a major earthquake in the South China Sea is real, but unrelated to Ryuju Ryo’s prediction. The Japanese government estimates that there is an 80% chance of a large earthquake occurring within 30 years, with potential economic losses exceeding 1.8 trillion USD and up to 298,000 deaths. This is based on scientific risk assessments and should be taken seriously and prepared for.

Rational disaster preparedness includes understanding local earthquake and tsunami risks, preparing emergency kits (water, food, medicine, flashlight), familiarizing oneself with evacuation routes and shelters, and participating in disaster drills. These measures are necessary and effective. But falling into extreme panic, hoarding supplies, canceling all trips to Japan, or even planning mountain climbing to hunt wild boar due to predictions are irrational overreactions.

For crypto investors, including cold wallets as part of disaster preparedness is not wrong, but viewing them as the only wealth safeguard in a doomsday scenario is mistaken. True disaster preparedness should be diversified: cash, gold, crypto, emergency supplies, survival skills—none can be omitted. After safely passing July 5, Ryuju Ryo’s doomsday prediction will become a classic case in social psychology, reminding us how to distinguish scientific warnings from superstitious predictions in the information age.