ABSTRACT
March 2011 in Fukushima turned out to be a silent spring, the depth of which no one may ever know. Residents were evacuated, leaving behind snapshots of the day, their memories, and their lost future, all of which were left to wither and fade away. Animals were abandoned in the tens of thousands: cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats; some were free, others caged, but most were left to die from starvation. Peach trees blossomed and horsetail shot up from the snow, but all were irradiated: mountains and rivers, fields and rice paddies, trees and grasses, insects and birds, bears, deer, fish. Random genetic mutations began amongst tiny pale-grass-blue butterflies that were larvae at the time of the disaster. Their damaged DNA began to cause increasing abnormalities in their eyes, wings, and antennas. 2 A premonition of many more silent springs deepened.
