Ordinarily you would be right , but it is not useless. The Japanese are extremely energy conscious. They spend millions on making ice for their highly active fish markets. Japans major protein source is fish from around the shores of Japan, especially bonito Tuna.
The Japnese are real sticklers for freshness in their fish, and it is highly iced without being frozen a lot of the time.
Instead of making ice and consuming the fuel to do so, they will simply stack these bricks in cold storage and use them to save on ice production.
The guy who made this machine will be an instant millionaire.