Pencil  Louis began  writing  fiction  for  the  Tokyo-based
          magazine, Uncommon Scents  in  April,  1992  and immediately
          created  a  series   of   characters   who  offered  various
          viewpoints on life  in Japan. These characters included Beth
          Crawley, Ted Cronkite, Rosemary Bede, Bull Shitzey and Vince
          Patchwork.

          The first Vince  Patchwork story, "The Japanese Experience",
          appeared in Uncommon  Scents in January, 1993. "Love Hotels"
          and "Xenophobia and  Sport"  followed  in  the same year. In
          these stories and  the  ones included in Patchwork Yokohama,
          Vince Patchwork represents the best in an Australian abroad.
          He is more  than  just a sightseer. He has learned Japanese.
          He eats Japanese  food. He socialises with Japanese friends.
          In short, he participates in the local culture. He does this
          not  through any  preconceived  ideas  about  Japan  or  the
          Japanese, but because he finds himself here in this country.

          In spite of  all this, Vince is incapable of denying his own
          past. Wherever he  goes and whatever he does, he carries his
          own  cultural baggage  with  him.  Because  of  his  obvious
          interest in Japan,  Vince  gives  us a unique perspective on
          Japan and the foreigner's place in it.