beheading and head display
Historical punishment of the Edo period: after beheading, the head was mounted on a pike and displayed in front of the prison as a warning.
Beheading and head display was one of the punishments in the Edo period.
Standard kanji spelling for this historical term.
Variant spelling with 打首 instead of 打ち首; both are used.
Compound of 打ち首 (uchikubi, 'beheading') and 獄門 (gokumon, 'prison gate'), referring to the practice of displaying the severed head at the prison gate.