(Reuters)
From the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction department: Was Steve Jobs was prevented from boarding his private jet, due to his collection of ninja throwing stars?
According to a report in Bloomberg news, security officials in Kansai International Airport near Osaka detected the weapons inside the Apple CEO's carry-on luggage, and stopped him from taking them aboard his jet. Apparently the security agents felt the stars -- shuriken, a traditional Japanese weapon used in martial arts -- were a security threat.
"Pure fiction," Jobs told the New York Post via e-mail.
Citing an article in Japanese magazine SPA!, Bloomberg said that Jobs was incensed. He reportedly argued that the throwing stars weren't a security risk -- after all, he wouldn't try to hijack his own plane, would he? Jobs then told officials that he would never visit Japan again.
An Apple spokesman denied the accuracy of the report as well, telling AllThingsD.com that "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."
Takeshi Uno, a spokesman at Kansai airport, confirmed some of the details however. Uno told Bloomberg News that a passenger using a private jet was stopped at the end of July for carrying shuriken. The passenger, whom Uno declined to identify because of the airport’s privacy policy, threw away the blades, he said.
The airport doesn’t have separate boarding arrangements for private jet users, Uno noted.
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