BOISE, Idaho — Remembering the past and spreading awareness with the help of food and music. That is what's behind a special collaboration between KIN and the nonprofit Friends of Minidoka. The nonprofit engages in, and supports, education, research and historic preservation of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.
The nine course dinner service starts Sunday, Feb. 17 and features a performance by violinist and songwriter Kishi Bashi. KIN will also serve the special dinner Wednesday through Saturday. All proceeds and donations will go directly to the Friends of Minidoka.
It was a time in history, that many Japanese Americans chose not to talk about – and to this day some choose not to talk about. People of Japanese descent, including U.S. and Canadian citizens, were incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II.
The United States forcibly incarcerated at least 125,284 people, Canada over 22,000.
Kris Komori is the chef and co-owner at KIN and Art House in downtown Boise. He said three of his four grandparents were put into camps in Canada, and although the camps were in different countries, they were similar in many ways.
"A lot of the people incarcerated, didn't talk about," Komori said. "So, the next generation, they were totally shielded from it. And I was very similarly. I didn't know too much about it, my grandmother did not speak of it, I had to pry information out of her one night."
He is now taking those stories from his grandparents and serving them in a unique way.
"So one dish, kind of based on my grandmother, it's udon noodles," Komori said. "She loves to talk food."
Minidoka is in Jerome, Idaho and was one of the Japanese American concentration camps. According to The Friends of Minidoka's website, the camp was called the “Minidoka War Relocation Center” or "Hunt Camp" and was open from 1942 to 1945. At its peak, the camp held 9,397 Japanese Americans from Washington State, Oregon, California and Alaska. Altogether, in the four years it was open, over 13,000 Japanese Americans were held at Minidoka.
The Friends of Minidoka states on its website; "We strive to pass on the history, legacy, and lessons of civil liberties through transforming and inspiring experiences for the general public and those with personal and familial ties to Minidoka." The nonprofit works with other partners to accomplish its goals and mission statement, including the National Park Service.
"They are responsible for preservation of the historic, historic Minidoka site, as well as not just preserving, but also educating and raising awareness about the history of that site," Komori said. "As we've been developing the menu and thinking about it, there's this interesting thing of, it's always been something in the past, that I haven't had a connection to, and it feels like it's bridging a little bit."
He said being at the site really brought that feeling out.
"I think it'll be pretty emotional," Komori said.
Food for thought. Plating a piece of history by stirring in deeper meaning.
"We want to make sure that it doesn't get lost in history, because it was a really interesting and unique thing," Komori said. "We don't want it to repeat itself. And it's not just to Japanese Americans, it's to like really any marginalized community, we don't want any of that to come back. We're not trying to make people feel bad, we're not trying to do any of that. It's just awareness. And, and at the end of it, it's still good food."
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