Japanese summers are now so unbearable that someone looked at a refrigerator and thought, logically, that humans should just go in one.
The Do Hiemon Box, created by Japanese refrigeration company SDRS and sold through industrial supplier Trusco Nakayama, is exactly what it sounds like: a metallic, glass-fronted booth the size and shape of a vending machine—and that’s not a coincidence, since the design was directly inspired by Japan’s ubiquitous refrigerated vending machines. A person climbs in, sits on the built-in seat, and gets blasted with air chilled to around 5°C (41°F), targeting the head, neck, shoulders, and back. The interior holds a steady 15°C (59°F). Ten minutes inside is reportedly enough to reduce body temperature and relieve symptoms of heat exhaustion.
The context for this invention isn’t hard to grasp. The summer of 2025 set a terrifying benchmark in Japan: over 100,000 people were transported to hospitals by ambulance for heatstroke between May and September, the highest figure since national record-keeping began in 1898. The year before saw more than 2,000 estimated heatstroke-related deaths nationally. This year, 48 people were hospitalized in a single day in Tokyo in mid-July. Japan has introduced new official terminology for days that exceed 40°C (104°F). The country is adapting, and apparently that now includes person-sized cooling units.
Japan Built a Human Refrigerator to Help People Survive Extreme Heat
The Do Hiemon Box offers three airflow settings, shuts off automatically after 20 minutes to prevent overcooling, and uses roughly half the electricity of a standard mobile air conditioner. No installation required, and it rolls on wheels, making it portable for construction sites, warehouses, factory floors, and outdoor event venues. One unit has already been donated to Maebashi City Hall in Gunma Prefecture, where it’s available free of charge to anyone who needs to cool down during business hours.
The Do Hiemon Box isn’t Japan’s first experiment in large-scale human appliances, either. The country also recently launched a human washing machine—an automated bathing pod that went on sale for home use earlier this year. Japan has effectively started treating people like perishables. Given the temperatures, that might not be the wrong call.
The standard Do Hiemon Box model is currently priced at 1.5 million yen, around $9,200, and is aimed at businesses and government organizations for now. If Japan’s summers keep going the direction they’ve been going, the domestic market may be next.
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