TOKYO - JAPAN'S gaffe-prone Prime Minister Taro Aso received a warning from inside his own cabineton Sunday as Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said he hoped Mr Aso would watch his mouth in future.

'Prime Minister Aso is a leader who devotes himself to conveying his messages firmly in words, which I think we should follow. But sometimes he has made remarks that gave me a start,' Mr Nakagawa said.

Speaking on a programme on public broadcaster NHK, Mr Nakagawa referred to Aso's latest gaffe last week in which he characterised the nation's doctors as lacking in common sense.

The prime minister 'corrected it promptly but we'd better not say something that we have to correct,' the minister said, noting he should also bear such advice in mind as he was not free from making similar gaffes.

Mr Aso angered a powerful lobbying force, the Japan Medical Association, last week for his remark that many doctors 'significantly lack common sense.' 'Their values and judgements are very different,' Mr Aso, whose wealthy family runs a hospital, told a gathering of local governors.

Mr Aso quickly apologised, saying he did not mean to demean the entire community of physicians. -- AFP