PORT TOWNSEND — The name Osamu means “learning” or “mastering” in Japanese.
Restaurateur Osamu “Sam” Okamoto is learning that one anonymous person can’t distinguish between his name and that of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian terrorist apparently holed up in Afghanistan.
Okamoto, owner of Osamu Ocean Grill and Sushi Bar in Port Townsend, has received three short, unsigned typewritten letters warning that his customers might be afraid to eat at his place because of the similarity of his given name to that of the notorious terrorist. The letters have carried a Seattle postmark.
Okamoto threw the first two letters away, but he decided to contact the news media Thursday because he is afraid of the nameless, faceless letter writer.
“I am a peaceful person, I have never hurt anyone,” he said. “But this makes me afraid because I don’t know who sent it.”
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