Apple: Jobs Not Stopped at Airport Over Ninja Stars

Sept. 14, 2010— -- A report that CEO Steve Jobs was stopped at a Japanese airport for trying to carry Ninja stars aboard a private plane is "pure fiction," Apple said today.

"Steve did visit Japan this summer for a vacation in Kyoto, but the incidents described at the airport are pure fiction," company spokesman Steve Dowling said.

Bloomberg news reported earlier today via the Japanese magazine SPA! that officials at the Kansai International Airport near Osaka spotted the sharp blades in the executive's bag in July.

The officials reportedly spotted the stars inside the CEO's carry-on luggage as he was heading home after a family vacation in Kyoto, according to the magazine.

The magazine said Jobs told officials he would never return to Japan again after telling them that it wouldn't make sense for him to hijack his own plane.

But Apple spokesman Dowling shot down the report.

"Steve had a great time," he said, "and hopes to visit Japan again soon."