Record-Breaking Heatwave Hits Japan... Vending Machine Maker's 'Legendary Life-Saver'

Gujo, Gifu Prefecture, is famous for its summer festival, where people dance through four days and nights without sleep.

Though it is festival season, the streets are quiet.

This is due to the scorching heat, with road surface temperatures exceeding 44°C (111°F).

In Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, where a festival has also begun, temperatures are nearing 40°C (104°F).

[Tourist : (It is truly unbearably hot.) Even after staying for just about 15 minutes, I already want to go back.]

Emergency relief stations have been set up in every hotel, and air-conditioned tents have been installed in plazas, but heatstroke patients continue to emerge.

Tokyo is breaking its heatwave damage records day after day.

Yesterday (the 22nd), 453 people were rushed to hospitals in a single day, the highest number since record-keeping began in 2010.

Casualties are also rising, including a woman in her 70s who collapsed and died while tending to her garden, and two men who collapsed from the heat while mowing the grass.

A so-called 'human refrigerator' has appeared in the lobby of one city hall.

It is a cooling facility created by a vending machine manufacturer that rapidly lowers body temperature.

[Citizen : It feels like stepping inside a refrigerator. I am someone who suffers a lot from the heat, so I think this is really great.]

We visited a shopping mall construction site.

Refrigerators where workers can grab frozen drinks and ice have been installed, and makeshift air-conditioned rest areas have been set up every two to three floors.

[Chang / Vietnamese Worker : When it is hot, coming here to eat ice cream and drink water is refreshing.]

[Shimada / Safety General Control Department, Daiwa Construction : (The makeshift rest areas) have such high satisfaction that requests are pouring in to make sure they are installed again at the next site.]

In rural areas where rice harvesting has begun, notice boards have been posted advising workers to work for 30 minutes and rest for 30 minutes.

The Japanese government urged caution, stating that heatstroke deaths during agricultural work are increasing rapidly.


453 People Rushed to Hospitals in a Single Day… 'Human Refrigerator' Eventually Appears (July 23, 2026, 8 News)

Reported by Moon Jun-mo | Written by Choi Yoon-seo | Filmed by Han Chul-min, Moon Hyun-jin | Video Edited by Jeon Min-gyu | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.