The head of an upscale Japanese inn apologized on Tuesday for only changing the water in its hot-spring bath every six months, allowing bacteria to breed 3,700 times over the standard limit.
According to local regulations, the water at the onsen should have been changed on a weekly basis. But management at the hotel admitted that it was only changed twice a year.
FUKUOKA The top official of a luxurious onsen inn in Chikushino, Fukuoka Prefecture, apologized on Feb. 28 for changing the water in its large bath only twice a year and for regularly failing to add chlorine for disinfection purposes.
The operator of a century-old ryokan inn in southwestern Japan admits telling staff not to regularly change its hot-spring bathwater, which led to levels of legionella bacteria as much as 3,700 times over standard limits.