Report: Steve Jobs stopped at Japan airport for carrying Ninja stars

Vowed to never visit the country again, according to a Japanese magazine

Photo: borderchess.org

[UPDATE: This one was apparently too good to be true. Apple has described the Ninja throwing stars part of the story as "pure fiction." See below.]

At the end of July, according to a second-hand report that appeared on the Bloomberg news wire Tuesday morning, Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs was stopped by Japanese airport security when a scan revealed Ninja throwing stars in his carry-on luggage.

The incident took place at Kansai International Airport, near Osaka, Japan, as Jobs was preparing to board his private jet after a family vacation in Kyoto, according to the original report in SPA!, a Japanese magazine. Confronted by airport security, Jobs reportedly said it wouldn't make sense for a person to try to hijack his own plane. He then told officials he would never visit Japan again, the magazine reported.

Apple declined to comment to Bloomberg, but a spokesman for the airport told the news service that a person was stopped at the end of July for carrying shuriken, the Japanese word for Ninja throwing stars. According to the spokesman, the passenger threw away the blades.

The airport doesn't have separate boarding arrangements for private-jet users.

UPDATE: Apple's comment to All Things D's John Paczkowski:

"Steve did visit Japan this summer for a vacation in Kyoto, but the incidents described at the airport are pure fiction. Steve had a great time and hopes to visit Japan again soon."

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]