THE BEER SLUSHIE

Summertime in Japan is so overwhelmingly hot that normally rational people are driven to extremes to escape the miserable heat.  The lack of air conditioning across the country has led to some inventive ways to prevent heatstroke.  There's Gatsby, mentholated "deodorant papers" that leave you feeling a bit cooler, handheld fans, pocket handkerchiefs (for the sweat), elbow gloves to protect against the sun while driving or riding a bicycle, collars made of gel that you can freeze and then wear, and of course, the infamous ice bra. 

Elbow gloves and umbrellas: it's summer.

This summer, there's a new wave in cooling ingenuity: frozen beer.  Several Japanese brewing companies are trying out a new concept in an attempt to raise sales, adding different fruit juices to their brews, or freezing them and dispensing the beer slushie-style into a cup.  The day after reading about this phenomenon in the WSJ, a friend visiting Fukuoka posted a photo on Facebook with the caption: Drinking a frozen pint of stout. Weird, but the heat has driven me to it. 

Weird it may be, but if Asahi or Kirin could put frozen beer machines next to the Slurpee dispensers in convenience stores around America, they'd make a fortune.