Japanese regulators have fretted that the Takata airbag recalls might spur a backlash against the country’s carmakers.

Now, the record $70 million in U.S. fines against Honda Motor Co. for failing to report warranty claims and more than 1,700 deaths and injuries may give them new cause for worry.

In agreeing to the embarrassing penalty this week, Honda admitted it knew about some shortcomings in its early warning system as early as 2011. But it didn’t act for two years.

The explanations are many and varied. But most boil down to sloppy data entry and computer coding errors. Honda also outlined several measures it will take to fix the problems.

It’s a black eye for what was once one of the industry’s most-trusted brands. And it is just the latest in a troubling trend of mea culpas that undermine Japan Inc.’s reputation.

The luster was sullied in 2012, when Toyota agreed to a then-record fine of $17.4 million for not reporting a floor mat defect in a timely manner. The following year, Toyota raised eyebrows again by winning approval to pay a settlement, valued at up to $1.6 billion, in a class action filed by people who said the acceleration recalls hurt the value of their vehicles.

Then in 2014, airbag supplier Takata rattled the industry with its unprecedented recalls of a key safety technology.

By December, Japan’s Nikkei business daily was reporting that the country’s transportation ministry was worried the airbag recalls -- and the U.S. authorities’ crackdown on Takata -- would spur a new round of Japan bashing in America.

And Honda would naturally be first in the crosshairs, it said.

“Honda could fall into serious financial trouble if these problems dent its earnings in the U.S., its most profitable market,” the newspaper said in a Dec. 1 commentary.

In some ways, Honda seems to be losing traction. The Honda division’s U.S. sales rose only 1 percent in 2014, despite the overall market’s 6 percent increase. The percentage increase trailed that of every other mass-market Japanese brand.

It is too early to say if that’s a blowback from bad image.

But the record fines, huge recalls and wrangling with U.S. regulators show that Japan’s automakers -- and their suppliers -- aren’t as bulletproof as their reputations once maintained.