Staff at a historic Japanese guesthouse have admitted they changed the water in their spring baths just twice a year and didn't add chlorine to the facilities because they "didn't like the smell".
The 158-year-old Daimaru Besso inn in Chikushino, Fukuoka Prefecture, recently underwent a health inspection which found that its Japanese bath—which uses water from volcanically heated hot springs—contained legionella bacteria at 3,700 times the permitted level.
The Health and Safety Executive says legionella bacteria can cause a "potentially fatal form of pneumonia" to which "everyone" is susceptible. It adds the disease is contracted by breathing in small droplets of the infected water.
According to reports from CNN affiliate TV Asahi, the water should have been changed on a weekly basis. But in a press conference on Tuesday, spa company president Makoto Yamada admitted it had only been changed twice a year.
“I was not aware of the law myself and thought that legionella bacteria was a common bacterium that could be found anywhere, and also that it was safe because the large baths were free-flowing so the water was changed quite often,” he said.
He added the decision not to add chlorine to the water because staff disliked the smell was "selfish", labelling the decision a "wrongdoing that completely disregarded the health of our customers".
On its website Daimaru Besso claims it once welcomed members of the Imperial family, with a tree planted in its gardens to mark the visit, as well as government dignitaries and priests. According to Japanese Guest Houses—the site customers are directed to if they want to book from the hotel's website—prices for a stay per person start at around 25,000 Japanese yen ($183) and go up to around 35,000 yen ($256).
According to CBS, Yamada said he felt "sorry for our ancestors" adding he was "complacent" in believing the legionella bacteria "was just an ordinary germ".
Yamada's apology may fail to impress authorities, however, as this isn't the first time the bath has been accused of unhygienic conditions. According to CBS, authorities were alerted to the state of facilities at Daimaru Besso last year when inspectors found double the permissible amount of legionella bacteria in the bathwater.
Yamada admitted that at the time the inn falsified documents to "claim that the chlorine had been properly added".
The site offers a range of baths, including those in rooms as well as public bathing areas—a number of which are now closed, according to the business's website. Daimaru Besso's website claims a dip in the "soft and smooth waters" of the bath will "leave your skin feeling supple and your mind at ease".
The main bath is split between men and women and is designed to feel like a "natural river water basin". Two further private baths claim to "teleport you back to a Japan from 100 years ago", with another adding "the faint smell of sulfur and hot spring waters offer a true Japanese onsen (guesthouse) experience".
Daimaru Besso inn did not immediately respond to Fortune when approached for comment.
