I have heard harsh criticism about the past failure of mainstream newspapers to report on suspicions that the late Johnny Kitagawa sexually abused young male idols at the talent agency he founded.

It should come as no surprise. The suspicions were reported by other media outlets for decades.

The Asahi Shimbun did not carry a full-fledged report until April, when a former idol discussed what he had experienced at Johnny & Associates Inc. during a news conference, allowing his real name to be used and his face shown on camera.

Weekly magazines and other media had featured the issue from time to time since the 1960s.

From 1999, the Shukan Bunshun weekly magazine covered Kitagawa’s “sexual harassment” in a series of 14 stories based on anonymous accounts of male idols and other sources.

Kitagawa and his agency filed a defamation lawsuit, but the Tokyo High Court concluded in 2003 that key parts of the weekly’s reports were accurate. The ruling was finalized the following year.

The Asahi Shimbun reported all court decisions on the lawsuit. But many of the articles were short and did not even carry a byline.

When I read the stories now, I think our coverage fell far short.

I spoke with current and former Asahi Shimbun employees who might be in the know, but virtually no one recalled the Shukan Bunshun’s reports or developments of the trial.

But many assumed that reporters and editors at the time failed to realize that what was described as sexual harassment was nothing less than sexual violence that constituted serious human rights violations.

Even a reporter who was pursuing acts of sexual violence against women acknowledged the lack of awareness that men can be victims of such violence.

A former senior editor referred to an entrenched mindset that issues about sex had no place in newspapers that children could read at home.

Many current and former Asahi journalists also said reporters and editors may have made blind assumptions that the suspicions surrounding Kitagawa simply amounted to gossip about the entertainment industry, a staple of weekly magazines, and not an issue that newspapers are supposed to deal with.

They apparently failed to identify Johnny & Associates, one of the nation’s most influential talent agencies, as a “power” that newspapers are tasked with monitoring.

I heard some people asking if the agency was considered taboo, but I see no reason for Asahi Shimbun reporters to refrain from taking a stand on what they should.

In 2008, one of our reporters interviewed several people associated with Johnny & Associates but decided not to write a story because he could not gather sufficient information.

“Johnny & Associates was not a taboo, and I took on the issue, believing that a newspaper could write about it,” said the reporter, who is now 46 years old.

He said he was not able to find a source who thought he had been victimized and wanted to share his feelings with the public.

At his news conference in April, the former idol said he probably would not have signed up with Johnny & Associates if television networks had reported the suspicions about Kitagawa’s sexual abuse.

His words weigh heavily as I work for a newspaper.

When I was assigned to the Arts and Culture News Section between 2010 and 2013, I wrote five stories about TV dramas featuring actors from Johnny & Associates based on interviews with them.

I was vaguely aware that there was an “unfavorable rumor,” but I did not attempt to dig into it.

I was focused only on the dramas’ bright sides, which were willing subjects for the agency and TV networks.

I could hardly think that the suspected sexual abuse was a grave issue built in the business and a topic that a newspaper should confront first and foremost.

It is difficult to understand all the problems that are occurring in the world and report on them in sufficient detail.

The media is not perfect. It must be always overlooking one thing or another.

Our bitter experience about the scandal drives home yet again that the media should always be aware of those challenges and never rest on the values and common sense of the times.