A 45-year-old man was arrested in Osaka on Saturday on suspicion of chopping off his 9-year-old son's right middle finger with a kitchen knife, police said.
Yoshimasa Ando, a part-time worker who lives in the city, said that because his son was quarreling with a sibling, he threw down the knife to scare the boy but accidentally hit his right hand, according to the police.
"I tried to show my authority as a parent because my kid didn't listen to me, and I just wanted to instill a sense of fear in him," he was quoted as telling investigators.
Ando is suspected of inflicting injuries on his sixth son, which will require about two months of treatment, at a condominium in the city on Friday night.