Gaijin! Gaijin!: An American Family in Japan

Volume One of the series, An American Family in Japan. First released in 1985, this is the third edition with additional photos and updated introduction, and fresh layout. In 1977 Kenneth and Lora Fenter resigned from their teaching jobs in Springfield, Oregon to take teaching positions at a small junior college in Isahaya, Japan about 15 miles from Nagasaki in southern Kyushu, Japan. Their children, Philip and Janelle were 12 and 9 respectively and were enrolled in the public schools of Isahaya. The book Gaijin Gaijin which means Foreigner Foreigner chronicles the first year of what became a two year sojourn. They went understanding that the Japanese studied English from middle school on and that their duties were to teach in English. What they found was that most people could not understand the English language. However, over time and with patience the family learns to adapt and make friends. The community adopts them and introduces each member of the family to the local customs, arts, music, foods, and invites them into their homes. Fortunately Kenneth keeps a journal and from that journal is able to present a glimpse into the life of the Japanese culture away from the hustle of the modern Japanese metropolitan centers that are more well know.

Kenneth Fenter took his family to the small town of Isahaya Japan in 1977 where they lived and taught for two years. After returning the family to Oregon in 1980, he continued the relationship with the area for three additional years with a stained glass business, crafting windows and Tiffany style lamps in his workshop in Springfield, Oregon and delivering and completing them for his customers in Isahaya and Nagasaki. Out of that experience he authored three non-fiction books: Gaijin! Gaijin!; MoIchido: Once More; and Suteindo Gurasu: Stained Glass. He returned to secondary teaching in 1985 and retired in 1998. He published his first novel, The Ruin in 2010 which dealt with memories of the shooting at Thurston High School, which occurred only weeks before his retirement at the sister school, Springfield. Fenter is currently writing a sequel to The Ruin and re-issuing MoIchido and Stained Glass. At the time of the issue of Gaijin! Third Edition, Fenter lives in Bend, Oregon with Lora his wife and soul mate of 50 years.