HIGASHIOSAKA, Japan — Japan’s battle with increasingly dangerous summer heat has produced an unusual new cooling solution: a refrigerator-sized booth designed not for food, but for people.
The “Do Hiemon Box,” developed for workplaces exposed to intense heat, allows a person to step inside and receive a blast of chilled air over the head, neck, shoulders and back. The unusual device has attracted growing attention as Japan faces another summer of potentially dangerous temperatures.
The concept may sound futuristic—or even bizarre—but for workers spending hours in warehouses, factories and construction sites, the appeal is straightforward: get out of the heat quickly.
A refrigerator built for people
The cooling booth is manufactured and marketed by Japanese industrial equipment distributor Trusco Nakayama. CNA, citing AFP, reported that more than 300 units had been sold since April, with each costing about 1.5 million yen (roughly US$9,400).
The units are being used or considered for locations where conventional air-conditioning can be difficult to deploy, including construction sites, factories and warehouses. Other potential applications include golf facilities, leisure venues and even baseball stadiums.
The booth can operate from a standard power outlet and is designed to be movable. It also automatically switches off after about 20 minutes, according to the manufacturer, limiting the amount of time a user spends inside.
The interior is maintained at around 15°C, while air cooled to approximately 5°C is directed toward key areas of the body.
Workers say the difference is immediate
At a warehouse in Higashiosaka, worker Isao Tabuchi, 51, reportedly turned to the cooling booth after feeling dizzy and unwell following his bicycle ride to work.
He told AFP that using the machine helped him recover and described the experience as exceptionally cool. Another employee, 24-year-old Taichi Konishi, said he uses the booth several times a day after physically demanding work.
After just a few minutes inside, Konishi said the experience was enough for his sweat to dry.
The technology is particularly interesting for workplaces where large doors need to remain open for trucks, machinery or deliveries. In those environments, cooling an entire building can be difficult and expensive.
Why Japan is turning to unusual heat solutions
The popularity of the “human fridge” comes against a much larger problem.
Japan has been experiencing increasingly severe summer heat. The Japan Meteorological Agency reported that summer 2025 was the hottest in Japan since nationwide records began in 1898, with the national summer temperature anomaly reaching +2.36°C above the 1991–2020 average.
The agency also reported that 132 of 153 meteorological stations recorded their highest average summer temperatures on record, while the country experienced an unprecedented number of extremely hot days.
Japan has responded by introducing a new term, “kokushobi,” or “cruelly hot day,” for temperatures reaching 40°C or higher. The term is intended to communicate the seriousness of extreme heat and encourage people to treat it as a major hazard.
The heat is changing how Japan works
Extreme temperatures are no longer simply a summer inconvenience for Japanese businesses.
Reuters recently reported that farmers in Japan are changing working hours to nighttime and early morning to avoid the worst daytime heat. In one case, a greenhouse worker suffered heatstroke after temperatures inside exceeded 40°C, prompting changes to working schedules.
Businesses are also investing in cooling measures, protective clothing and shaded or air-conditioned rest areas as heat becomes a growing workplace safety concern.
The need is particularly pressing because many Japanese industries rely on outdoor or semi-outdoor work, where conventional air-conditioning cannot provide adequate protection.
A sign of a hotter future?
The “human fridge” is more than an attention-grabbing piece of technology. It illustrates how extreme heat is forcing businesses to rethink workplace safety.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency has attributed the country’s recent exceptional heat to a combination of atmospheric circulation patterns, unusually warm ocean conditions and the long-term warming trend associated with climate change. Its analysis of the record 2025 summer concluded that the extreme temperatures would have been virtually impossible under a climate without the effects of global warming.
That means devices such as the Do Hiemon Box could become increasingly relevant—not because they solve the underlying climate problem, but because employers are searching for ways to keep people safe as heat exposure becomes more difficult to avoid.
The price tag remains substantial, and the technology is not a replacement for proper hydration, rest, shade, medical attention or other established heat-safety measures.
But as temperatures push workers closer to dangerous limits, Japan’s strange-looking solution raises a much bigger question:
If people increasingly need to step inside a refrigerator just to safely get through the workday, what does that say about the summers ahead?
Leave a Reply