Hydroponic tomatoes grown using Dutch buckets in a greenhouse in Fukushima, Japan. Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants without soil. Instead, the roots of the plant are immersed in troughs or buckets through which nutrient-rich water trickles. These tomatoes were grown with the support of an agricultural company in the Fukushima Prefecture after the area was hit by a tsunami in 2011. The tsunami caused damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, leading to the meltdown of three of the nuclear reactors and a leak of radioactive material.