The Japanese hotel owner had to apologize after his hot tub’s water was only changed twice a year and he was found dead on a mountain pass with a suicide note

A Japanese hotel owner forced to apologize after changing his hot tub water only twice a year has been found dead with a suicide note.

Makoto Yamada, 70, was spotted on a mountain pass in the city of Chikushino, Fukuoka Prefecture on Sunday morning.

Mr. Yamada was the former president of the 158-year-old Daimaru Besso traditional inn in Chikushino, which was once visited by Emperor Hirohito. He only resigned his position at the hotel 10 days before his death on March 2.

The hotel came under heavy scrutiny after an inspection in November found Legionella in the swimming water at 3,700 times the legal limit. Legionella can cause a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.

Police believe they found a suicide note in a car near where Mr Yamada was found dead.

Mr. Yamada was the former president of the 158-year-old traditional inn Daimaru Besso (pictured) in Chikushino, which was once visited by Emperor Hirohito.

The note apparently read: “I am very sorry. I feel morally responsible for everything. Please take care of the rest.”

Mr Yamada was questioned by officers for about six hours on March 10 and was summoned again the next day, but did not turn up at the police station.

An inspection of the inn’s hot springs revealed that the bath water was only changed twice a year instead of weekly.

The Fukuoka prefectural government filed a police complaint against the inn on March 8, accusing it of violating the public bathing law by lying that the bath water was changed much more often than it actually was.

Mr Yamada admitted at a press conference on February 28: “I told my staff that it is good not to change the bath water because fewer people use it.”

The hotel (pictured) came under heavy scrutiny after an inspection in November found legionella 3,700 times the legal limit in swimming water.

Mr Yamada admitted at a press conference on February 28 (pictured during an apology) that he had told staff to change bath water less because fewer people were using it

He admitted to directing employees to illegally share fraudulent chlorination data with public health officials.

Mr. Yamada also admitted that he did not chlorinate the bath water because he and the workers “selfishly didn’t like the smell of chlorine.”

Eiji Kodama, Fukuoka Prefecture police officer, said in a statement: “We would like to express our deepest condolences to the deceased.

“We think there were no problems with the way the police handled the case.”