Hot springs resorts across the nation have been found to have misrepresented the amount of actual spring water used at their facilities, but efforts to resolve this problem have ended up being little more than a drop in the bucket.

This summer, a hotel in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, was found to have advertised itself as a hot springs facility, although more than 100 times as much tap water as spring water was being used in its baths.

A water pipe connecting the spring to the Takarazuka hotel broke in 2003, prompting the hotel to purchase water at a hot spring water station or from original wells, transport it back to the hotel and pour it into its bathtubs.

About 18 liters of hot springs water were poured into two bathtubs each for men and women, resulting in only about 0.5 percent of spring water in the total amount of bathwater.