A lawyer for Carlos Ghosn issued an apology Friday to try to calm a media storm over a disguise worn by the former car executive as he left jail.

Mr. Ghosn, the former head of the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance, paid a bail of 1 billion yen (about $9 million) and walked out of the Tokyo detention center on Wednesday, wearing a construction worker uniform, a cap and a face mask routinely worn in Japan when someone has a cold.

The nation’s media, with news helicopters hovering overhead, were riveted on getting the first glimpse of his departure from jail, and some photographers had camped out overnight for a good position. But Mr. Ghosn slipped away without being noticed. It took a few minutes before he was recognized, and not much longer before pundits were asking why an innocent man — Mr. Ghosn denies all charges of financial wrongdoing — would wear a disguise.

News shows played the clip over and over in slow motion. The national broadcaster NHK noted the cap’s logo and interviewed the firm’s owner. (He was “really surprised” to see Mr. Ghosn sporting the look.) Fuji Television analyzed the van — notably a Suzuki, not a Nissan — that Mr. Ghosn had used to leave his lawyer’s office.