Harry,
I could not disagree with you more. While we don't have trees with the generations of work done on them that they have in Japan, I assure you that more and more JBP here in the states are approaching that level. The question is, how much of "American bonsai" will be dedicated to nursery grown bonsa material, and how much to collected material?
The JBPs you see everywhere are almost all grown from seed specifically for bonsai. The few collected JBP in Japan are highly prized.
Walter, don't you have some Ponderosa pines at home?
Chris, I would like to see some examples of JBP that were grown and styled here in America that are approaching even my average JBP (Japanese import) I meant to say RMJs but it may be the same for Ponderosa. Walter bought a lot of trees here in America and now he is trying to sell them, because he can't import them at home.