In Japan, one minister is urging that parents be subjected to the ultimate penalty for their child’s crimes:

A Japanese minister has called for the parents of a boy suspected of kidnapping and killing a young child to be “beheaded.”

The statement comes a day after a 12-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of pushing a four-year-old to his death from the top of a Nagasaki building.

The victim was found naked and may have been assaulted.

“The parents should be dragged through the streets and then beheaded,” said Yoshitada Konoike, minister in charge of deregulation zones and disaster management. “Then parents and their children would be more careful.”

Needless to say, his statement was met with a near-immediate backlash which caused the minister to back down and explain himself.

Konoike later said the comments were a “just a metaphor” drawn from samurai movies and explained he meant parents should take responsibility when their children break the law.

“Since children cannot be punished under the law, their parents should start by showing their face in public and apologizing for the trouble caused to society,” he said.

Beheading as a metaphor for a public apology – I just don’t see the connection. I do see that he’s got a damn good point either way, though.