State Minister Yoshitada Konoike's comment July 11 that the parents of the 12-year-old boy accused of murdering a 4-year-old in Nagasaki should be "dragged through town" and "beheaded" shocked a lot of people. He later apologized, but added that he did believe in the "principle" behind what he said, as did many supporters who e-mailed him through his home page.

Some would like nothing better than to change the laws so that the boy can be locked away for life (or worse), but it's more commonly assumed that the fault lies with the parents for having created such a child.

Responsibility is in the eye of the beholder. Based on what's been reported so far, the boy was apparently very close to his mother. It's hard to know what specific blame can be pinned on a mother in such a situation, except to say that maybe she should have kept a closer eye on her son, but last Tuesday there was a very frank discussion on Asahi TV's "Super Morning" about the kind of sexual anxiety the boy seemed to be suffering from. It opened up into a useful conversation about how parents can cope with this tricky stage of life.