The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 prompted immediate creative response. Merzbow released Dead Zone (Quasi Pop Records, 2011), addressing radioactive contamination from Fukushima and Chernobyl. The cover of UZU ME KU (2012) features a cracked pillar from the Nagasawa Water Treatment Plant - physical evidence of disaster. The "sacred cows" trilogy (Kamadhenu, Surabhi, Gomata) for Hypnagogia continued animal rights themes, while works like Lop Lop and later Konchuuki explored non-direct approaches. New equipment—smaller oscillator synths, drone machines, and miniature kotos, strongly characterized the sound.