Cool Japan: Human Fridge Chills Workers in Extreme Heat
Trusco Nakayama has sold more than 300 units since April as companies seek low-power relief from heatstroke risks.
- To combat heatstroke, businesses are deploying 'Do Hiemon Box' units; Tokyo-based distributor Trusco Nakayama has sold more than 300 units since April, priced at 1.5 million yen each.
- Japanese businesses have faced tougher legal requirements since last year to protect employees; this year, the weather office began using 'kokushobi,' or 'cruelly hot day,' for 40C temperatures, urging the public to treat extreme heat as a natural disaster.
- Warehouse worker Isao Tabuchi, 51, noted in Higashiosaka, 'I was really able to recover thanks to that'; the booth automatically shuts off after 20 minutes to prevent overuse.
- A Teikoku Databank survey found 50 percent of companies reported heat-related operational disruptions, prompting increased investment in cooling measures; Yutaka Kono from Konoe noted such investments are essential for maintaining workforces.
- Distributors plan to expand cooling units to golf courses and baseball stadiums, while scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing extreme heat frequency and intensity worldwide, making Japan's adaptation strategy increasingly critical.
35 Articles
35 Articles
After getting to work by bicycle, dizzy with the suffocating heat of the Japanese summer, Isao Tabuchi is heading to the latest acquisition of his company: a refrigerator for humans. 'We have to wait': Lito Sousa's woman says she has received negative responses from pharmaceuticals and research institute Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease: geneticist takes 15 questions about the disease that affected the influencer Lito Sousa "I managed to recover than…
▶️ Having to work for long hours in 40 degrees, which seemed unthinkable a few years ago, has become a reality, including in France. Can technology help us cope with these temperatures? In Japan, which had the hottest summer in its history, manufacturers have developed a very simple technique to cool their employees using a human refrigerator. For the time being, the device is not available in France. (Consumption and trends).
In Japan, a "refrigerator for people" is said to provide quick cooling for workers on construction sites, factories and warehouses. More than 300 items have been sold since April. The purchase cost is about 8000 euros. According to the manufacturer Trusco Nakayama, the refrigerator is 15 degrees, and from above a five degree cool air stream is directed on the head, neck and shoulders on the users. Among the areas of use are currently places wher…
The phone-sized cabin of the manufacturer Trusco Nakayama has so far been sold more than 300 times.
As Japan's summer heat swelters, warehouse worker Isao Tabuchi, feeling unwell after a bike ride to work, heads to his company's latest acquisition: a refrigerator for people. The phone booth-sized device, which uses cool air to provide icy comfort, was introduced only this year but has proven popular in a country that seems to be warming up relentlessly.
An employee is cooling off inside a cooling booth set up in a warehouse of an equipment manufacturer in Higashi-Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. This cooling booth, known as a "human refrigerator," maintains an internal temperature of 15 degrees Celsius by blowing cool air. As extreme heat engulfs the Korean Peninsula, a heatwave with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius is continuing in Japan as well.
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