Many people are desperately seeking ways to escape the summer heat, and businesses are cashing in with new services to help them cool down.

A shaved ice machine at the hair salon Asai in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, whirs as owner Takanori Asai, 37, mixes the shavings into shampoo to wash customers' hair with it.

Calling it the Shaved Ice Shampoo treatment, Asai started the service in 2011 after noticing that the shampoo bubbles didn't change with or without the ice.