Japan PM under fire after string of gaffes

By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Taro Aso's top aide urged him on Friday to watch what he says, the second straight day that the Japanese leader was warned after a series of gaffes that have left some analysts wondering about his grip on power.

In the space of a few days, the outspoken 68-year-old Aso has managed to offend doctors, insult parents, upset reformers and irk ruling party barons with ties to road construction.

"I think what is necessary ... is for the prime minister to keep quiet and then take responsibility and make the final decisions," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters when asked about Aso's latest controversial remarks.

Analysts said Aso's string of comments reflected not only his gaffe-prone personality but also disarray ahead of an election due by next September that could oust the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled for most of the past 53 years.

An LDP defeat would spell a raft of policy unknowns as the opposition Democrats, a hodge-podge of ex-LDP members, socialists and younger lawmakers, took their first shot at governing.

"He's looking like a prime minister who has only several months to go," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano.

"He's the pilot of a plane that has lost control. There is turbulence after turbulence and passengers are getting nervous."

Kawamura had already chided Aso on Thursday for saying