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 Mr Yoshitada Konoike, minister in charge of deregulation zones and disaster management. "Then parents and their children would be more careful".
The minister, who is also a member of a government panel on juvenile issues, was commenting on a debate about whether the government should revise a law that deems children under the age of 14 not criminally responsible for their actions.
His remarks alluded to a form of capital punishment that was typical in pre-modern Japan.
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 apologising for the trouble caused to society," he said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was quoted as saying he had not heard the comment but that, if true, it would be "inappropriate".