Makoto Yamada, former president of a century-old ryokan-style inn in Fukuoka Prefecture where legionella bacteria 3,700 times the allowable limit had been detected in its hot-spring bathwater, was found dead on Sunday, prefectural police officials said.
The officials said a passerby found Yamada, 70, on a mountain road in Chikushino, Fukuoka Prefecture, around 7:00 a.m. and reported to police. They believe he took his own life, as a farewell note was discovered in a car nearby.
He apologized in the note, saying he was responsible for everything, according to police.