Human refrigerator in Japan offers a quick chill as summer heat bites
A vending machine-sized cooling booth is being marketed in Japan to ease heat exhaustion at outdoor worksites and public spaces.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
A human refrigerator in Japan has made its debut as the country swelters through a stretch of intense summer heat, according to UPI.
The device, called the Do Hiemon Box, is being pitched as a one-person cooling booth for workplaces and public areas. UPI reported that the box is about the size of a typical Japanese vending machine and is designed to hold one person at a time.
Inside, the temperature is maintained at 59 degrees. Once someone steps in, the system sends cold air toward the head, neck, shoulders and back, according to UPI, citing details on the product and reporting by SoraNews24.
What is Japan's human refrigerator?
The Do Hiemon Box is a compact cooling chamber built to lower a person's body temperature quickly. Its makers are marketing it for places where people may need fast relief from heat, especially in the middle of Japan's increasingly hot summers.
The box was developed by SDRS, a company that makes refrigeration and vending machine equipment, according to UPI. Industrial equipment supplier Trusco Nakayama is marketing the unit for use in businesses and other public spaces.
The idea is blunt and practical: step into the box, get blasted with cold air, and cool down fast. The company said the booth can help relieve heat exhaustion symptoms by rapidly cooling the body, UPI reported.
Where could the cooling box be used?
Trusco Nakayama is promoting the Do Hiemon Box for settings where people work outdoors, including construction sites, according to UPI and CNN reporting cited by the outlet.
That use case is easy to picture. Outdoor workers are often exposed to direct sun and high temperatures for long stretches, and the box is being sold as a way to offer a rapid cooldown without needing a full indoor break room.
The machine is also being placed in public settings. Maebashi City Hall in Gunma Prefecture received one of the first units as a donation, UPI reported. Members of the public are being allowed to use it free of charge during the building's opening hours.
How hot has Japan been?
UPI reported that temperatures in Japan have climbed close to 100 degrees in recent weeks. In Tokyo, 48 people were hospitalized with heatstroke on July 15 alone.
The Do Hiemon Box is arriving against that backdrop: hotter days, visible health risks and a growing market for practical ways to cool people down quickly.
The booth is not cheap. UPI reported that the Do Hiemon Box currently sells for $9,326.25.
For that price, buyers get a human-sized chill cabinet with a very specific job. As summer temperatures keep testing Japan's streets, job sites and public buildings, the country now has a vending machine-sized answer waiting by the wall.
This story draws on original reporting from UPI.